ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Ken Loach

Sorry We Missed You: Working Yourself to Death

by Leave a Comment

Sorry We Missed You tells the story of Ricky (Kris Hitchen), a husband and father of two children who lives in Newcastle. Struggling to make ends meet, their family has always cared for one another, despite their acknowledgement that achieving financial independance remains unlikely. When Abby sells her car so that Ricky can begin a career as a freelance driver, he feels like things may begin to turn around for them. However, as the pressure of life on the road begins to take its toll, Ricky must choose what matters most to him, lest he lose his family in the process.

Directed by the legendary Ken Loach, Missed You is a window into the everyday lives of the blue-collar worker. There’s a sense of reality that pervades Loach’s work as he seeks to draw attention to the struggles of those whom seldomly have their stories told. As always, Loach’s style remains as simplistic as possible. Camera work is engaging but not flashy. The cast is quality yet does not include any particular ‘star power’. As such, Loach keeps his audience from distractions, allowing them to remain focused on the challenges of the world in which his characters live. 

After Ricky finally gets the opportunity to be a freelance driver, his world finally seems to crack open with rays of light. Whereas his life has been consistently controlled at the hands of others, Ricky’s move appears to be progress towards independence. However, long hours, low pay and hazardous working conditions soon become his new master as he faces even greater pressure to attempt to make ends meet. Driven by his passion to provide for his family, he subjects himself to continued abuse at the hands of his supervisor and clients.

Of course, herein lies the irony of Missed You. As Ricky pushes harder to make ends meet, the time, effort and stress required to do so begins to tear his family to pieces. Without the time to invest in his children, his son becomes increasingly emotionally distant and involved in dangerous activity. With his absence, his wife feels him pulling away and their communication falters. Here, Loach provides his argument against the plight of the capitalist system which commends work ethic but destroys relationships. In other words, Loach uses the story of Ricky to highlight the tension between the struggle for success and the value of family. With each passing day, as his attempts to prove his worth to his family by earning his wages, Ricky becomes increasingly distant from his family and they suffer as a result. Through the story of Ricky, Missed You presents Loach’s bold argument that the true enemy to domestic life is a capitalist environment, as it emphasizes finance over family.

While the film focuses exclusively on the story of Ricky and his home, Missed You feels like a window into the lives of anyone who struggles in plain sight. There’s an honesty and pain in Loach’s work that makes Missed You well worth watching. As with much of his work, Loach continues to call for attentiveness to the suffering of those around us, regardless of whether or not they fall into our perception of poverty. 

In the case of Ricky, the greatest struggle of his family remains that he may work himself to death. 

Sorry We Missed You begins to roll out in theatres on Friday, March 6th, 2020.

Sorry We Missed You: When the Work Ethic Doesn’t Work

by Leave a Comment

“I’ve got to go to work. I have not got a choice.”

We are told that if we work hard, we will find success. For many the “gig economy” seems to be the way they can take control of their lives and find the financial success they need. Ken Loach’s film Sorry We Missed You provides a much darker view. What started off as great hope of a brighter future devolves into a world of desperation.

Ricky (Kris Hitchen) has bounced between jobs since the 2008 economic downturn. He had been in construction. As the film opens, he is interviewing for a job as a delivery driver. It seems exactly what he wants. He will be his own boss, he is told. He won’t be paid wages, he’ll get fees. With hard work he can begin to bring home enough money to get his family back in their own home. But to really make money, he’ll need his own van.

His wife Abby (Debbie Honeywood) is a home health aid. She has a car she uses to go from client to client. But to get Ricky a van, they sell her car, making her rely on buses to make her appointments. The two of them put in long hours—12 to 14 hours a day. Meanwhile their children, sixteen year-old Seb (Rhys Stone) and tweener Liza Jane (Katie Proctor) try to get by. Seb is dark and brooding. He cuts school and paints graffiti. He knows how to push Ricky’s buttons—and does so frequently. Liza Jane strives to be a peacemaker in the home, but what a burden that can be.

When problems arise, Ricky discovers that the “self-employment” he thought his job entailed was really an illusion. There is no flexibility. He must be there every day, or arrange for a replacement. Not doing so results in not just lost pay, but a £100/day fine. Abby also has little flexibility, in part because she is compassionate and caring. When she must do extra work, it is not compensated. As the stresses of work and within the family continue to grow and compound on each other, the characters find themselves in a spiral of despair.

The film is set in Newcastle, as was Loach’s previous film I, Daniel Blake (which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes). It is not a sequel, but could well be seen as a companion piece. Both deal with the trials of the working class trying to get by in an economy that doesn’t care about people, but about bottom lines. Whereas I, Daniel Blake deals with the working-class struggle with a good dose of humor and eventually shows the power of the human spirit in midst of a soul-deadening bureaucracy, Sorry We Missed You is much darker and pessimistic. As the hope that drives Ricky to start this new job slowly evaporates, the stresses on everyone in the family may destroy their loving relationships. And the film does not allow us to walk away with a sense that things will get better.

This is meant to be a troubling film. It calls into question some of the foundational beliefs of our society. As we watch Ricky and Abby work long hours in hope of achieving some financial improvement, we discover that the supposed promise of the work ethic is deceptive. They not only fail to gain on their goals, they become deeper and deeper in debt. That debt is not only financial, but also emotional and spiritual. The work ethic that we see in play here does not elevate workers, but erodes their dignity and threatens their humanity.

Note: This film comes with subtitles, even though it is in the English language. The Northern England dialect can be difficult to understand, so the subtitles are very welcome.

Photos courtesy of Zeitgeist Films in Association with Kino Lorber

I, Daniel Blake – The Labyrinth of Public Assistance

by Leave a Comment

“What’s wrong with you people?”

Anyone who’s made a trip to the DMV (and that would be nearly everyone) knows that bureaucracy can make you crazy. But what if you were dependent on the bureaucracy to get by day by day? I, Daniel Blake is Ken Loach’s most recent tale of an everyman who faces societal structures that are often at odds with what is right. Loach won his second Palme d’Or with this film. (His first was for The Wind that Shakes the Barley in 2006).

Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a middle aged carpenter who is now out of work following a heart attack. He has been on disability pay. Now the bureaucracy has determined (despite what his doctor says) that he is fit for work, so he will no longer receive disability pay. He must apply for Job Seekers Assistance, which requires him to spend a good deal of time each week seeking a job. (Of course, even if someone wants to hire him, he can’t take the job because of his health.) To complicate matters, one can only apply online. He has never used a computer. As he tries to get someone to listen to him, he is confronted by an uncaring monolithic social services agency. The story has moments of humor, but it is also a very serious look at the way we dehumanize, frustrate, humiliate and shame those who ask for help.

He also meets Katie (Hayley Squires), a young single mother with two children also struggling with the social services. She had been homeless, but they have found a house for her. The problem is that she’s from London (where all her family and support are) and the house is far to the north. Daniel takes her under his wing. He is able to fix things in her house. Their friendship is important to them both, but its real focus is trying to figure out how to get the things that they should be entitled to.

idbday2126

We like to think that we have put a social safety net in place to help those in need. Disability payments, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children. We often lump them together under the general term “welfare”, even though they are all vastly different. The idea behind them all is that as a society we know that there are some who are in need and that we have a certain common responsibility toward each other. (I could cite some specific Christian reasons, but those wouldn’t apply to society as a whole.) What always comes up is an idea of “deserving” and “undeserving” poor. Part of the reason for bureaucracies is to make sure people aren’t taking advantage of the system. That is, weeding out those we consider undeserving. But what of those who get caught in the Catch-22 world of bureaucratic rules? It’s not a matter of falling through the cracks. It is that the whole system seems rigged to make people feel miserable and ashamed.

idbday3067

The film is not, however, all about the uncaring people in the bureaucracy. In fact there are a few who do seem to care. But most of the caring people in the film are more of the everyman characters like Daniel and Katie. The dichotomy between the people who care about those in need and those who seem to want to break their spirits makes for a sharp contrast. As Daniel and Katie navigate the official and unofficial systems that could help them, they do find those who care about them, people who see them as inherently deserving of respect and help. Daniel is essentially this kind of person. For years he took care of his wife until her death. He takes care of Katie and her family even though he has no real connection to her. He simply sees that they need his help so he provides it. This stands in opposition to the way Daniel is treated by the system that has (for some unknown reason) deemed that he no longer qualifies for assistance.

idbday7248

If Loach is trying to shame anyone in this film it would be those who make the hard lives of those in need even harder. Those who can’t see beyond rules or even see that some rules just make it worse. Those who think that people in need are somehow less than anyone else. But he would also remind us all that those who touch the lives of others with care and kindness often reap rewards that go beyond what money can afford.

Photos courtesy IFC Films and Sundance Selects

AFIFest – Easier Than a Trip to Cannes

by Leave a Comment

We don’t all get to go to Cannes for what may be considered the most prestigious film festival. I know I don’t make it there. But yesterday at AFIFest  (presented by Audi), I managed to see three films that all won awards at Cannes this year. And I didn’t have to pay for airfare and a hotel room.

daniel-blake

Ken Loach won his second Palme d’Or for I, Daniel Blake. (His first was for The Wind that Shakes the Barley in 2006.)  Loach’s films offer social criticism focusing on everyday people struggling with the issues of life. Daniel Blake is a carpenter who is off work because of a heart attack. Although his doctor says he can’t work, the bureaucracy had deemed him fit for work and has cut off his disability. He can, however, apply for job seekers’ assistance. As he deals with the heartless bureaucracy that is more concerned with the rules and procedures than actually helping people, he meets a young single mother trying to raise two children in the same system. This is a film about caring and non-caring. It is a reminder that those with financial struggles are people who deserve respect and compassion. The film will be in theaters around Christmas. Look for a fuller review then.

only-end-of-world

The Iranian film The Salesman won the awards for Best Screenplay (Asghar Farhadi) and Best Actor (Shahab Hosseini) at Cannes. Farhadi’s films often deal with the relationship between a husband and wife. In The Salesman Emad and Rana are both actors who are in a production of Death of a Salesman. After Rana is attacked in their apartment, their relationship is under stress as Emad is out for revenge and Rana is feeling vulnerable and wanting everything to go away. Questions of vengeance and mercy play out—mostly by looking at how those choices affect Emad and Rana. The Salesman is Iran’s official Oscar entry.

salesman

The Grand Prix is the second most prestigious award at Cannes. This year it went to the Canadian film It’s Only the End of the World. Louis is a playwright who left his home twelve years ago and is coming back for a visit. He tells us at the beginning of the film that this is a “journey to announce my death.” When he arrives at his mother’s home, his sister, brother and sister-in-law are all there. We soon discover that this is a family that defines itself by bickering with one another. Their times together are often uncomfortable. Louis has various one-on-one scenes with each of the others, but we know that these are people we wouldn’t want to be around any more than Louis has the last twelve years. At the same time, what role does Louis’s leaving have to do with the feelings that have developed in the family? It seems his return only serves as a catalyst to further exacerbate the fragile situation. It’s Only the End of the World is Canada’s official Oscar entry.

Photos provided by AFIFest presented by Audi