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Ken Loach: The Godfather of social realism

Updated: Nov 19, 2018

Ken Loach is best know for the films, 'Kes' which was voted the seventh greatest British film of the 20th century by the British film institution. He was also best know for the film 'I, Daniel Blake' which won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes film festival making him the ninth film maker to win the award twice. According to the Guardian , in the interview with Ken Loach he claims that 'What i've always tried to do is capture the truth of the moment.' This implies that Ken Loach captures the public's attention by speaking the truth about the problems in the UK and people could not handle the truth and that is why people see him to be controversial. For example, in the film 'I Daniel Blake' it is based on the poverty of the Britain, and certain political groups found it 'unpalatable'.



Ken Loach states that his films 'enable you to change the course of your viewing experience- past and present- give fascinating insights into his creative practices'. I get the impression that Ken expresses the situations through a different perspective to make people see a different side to it, to make the more aware of their surroundings.

Cinematic styles:

Apparently Ken Loach liked to run the entire scene for every shot, he didn't break the scenes down into little 'shot length' segments because he thought that it would make the films more authentic to the audiences. Most of his films are presented to be as if it was an 'unedited documentary' to show the 'realness'. Ken Loach apparently rejects the boundaries according to 'Oxfordstudent.com' He believed that we should realise what films can do, he tended to look for stories related to politics that ' demand to be told, that have a significance beyond their simple narrative'. Suggesting that he based his films of politics and made them into a film to make people recognise the situations and he saw the power of films to present them.

Critic Reviews:

The critic review on 'Kes': 'Ken Loach's film is grim and rambling, and without a clear victory. Yet it's one of the most powerful coming-age stories being told, containing great passages of beauty'- Jeffery M. Anderson from ' common sense media'. Another critic said ' a classic of British social realism' On Rotten Tomatoes.


Critics review on ' I Daniel Blake' say "Loach is nothing but a humanist, one who sees what should unite us all in time of duress, and this is arguably one of his best films yet and most accessible movies to date." by peter Travers on Rolling Stone. Another critic claimed on the New York Times that "what makes this film bearable is Daniel's unquenchable decency, courage and perseverance".



The style in both 'I, Daniel blake' and 'Kes' trailers seem to be very authentic and more like documentaries than films but i think this important because it shows the realness. In particular the characters look relatable to most of the target audience making it more appealing. Due to the trailer of 'I, Daniel Blake' being set in an average British town it gives a more documentary feel to it and the lower class characters also give it this feel too. In the 'Kes' trailer the main character seem to be the typical little boy who is up to mischief this gives it a more authentic feel as well because most boys at that age act in a similar way and wanting to be free doing what they want to do. In both trailers there are no special affects which also makes the film seem to be a documentary rather than a film.



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