The Old Oak (2023)

We get it Ken, you're not overly enthused by the actions of this country's government. Around a decade ago, it was thought that Ken Loach, hugely regarded British film maker, was planning to throw in the towel. Then came a newly inserted conservative government, one which hasn't yet shifted in the last ten years, meaning that Loach has had plenty of ammunition to fill a further few feature films. 2016's excellent I, Daniel Blake won the Palm d'Or at Cannes, a tale of beaurocratical failure in reducing numerous UK residents to just numbers, depicting a system that was seemingly beyond repair. He followed that up with Sorry We Missed You (2019), a horrific yet shockingly accurate portrayal of a self-employed delivery driver in the UK, whose company care not about basic human rights or needs; working ludicrously long hours and not getting paid for even close to the amount of time he works. Loach completes this Broken Britain trilogy with The Old Oak, which might well be the most Loachian film he's has ever produced. The film opens with Syrian refugees escaping their war torn country and landing in County Durham, where pub landlord TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) runs The Old Oak. This previously thriving mining community has slowly fallen into disrepair over the years, seemingly forgotten by the people that matter, and The Old Oak appears to be the last vestige that members of the public can meet in the town, but the arrival of the refugees affects the community, bringing both the best and the worst out of the locals. TJ instantly strikes up a friendship with Yara (an absorbing Ebla Mari) and helps to repair her camera after one of the less friendly locals breaks it on the Syrian's arrival, and the pair of them form an effective team in helping the Syrian community feel at home in the town. What Loach does effectively is to provide sympathy for the would be bigots of the town as well as the refugees; several individuals who've known TJ for years are unimpressed at his willingness to open up the long shut back room of the pub to help the Syrians, or indeed not joining their apprehension at the foreigners arrival. But driving all the would be racism or bigotry is a frustration at being left behind themselves by society; the back room of The Old Oak is laden with photographs of miners striking under Thatcher's regime, a reminder of solidarity, togetherness and hope, things that are fast fading amid plummeting house prices and drying up job opportunities. There's seemingly no let up for TJ or Yara in the continuing disappointments that hit them, but the set up for Loach is like flies around dung; two fractured societies with seemingly nothing to cling to find each other, amongst a never ending backlash of trepidation and hatred, both now dismissed by the powers that be. Loach's finest film for me remains The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), one that also won the Palm d'Or, and if The Old Oak does end up being his final bow, he's already cemented his place in British film folklore. But he has once more conjured up something that resonates and is consistently gripping; it feels close to home even if for a lot of us it's not right at our doorstep. Loach is by now an expert in social realism, ramming home political indignation with no apology for it, and even if The Old Oak does very much at times feel like the excellent Pride (2014) without the humour, it's nevertheless another feather in the cap of one of Britain's finest ever film makers. 7.3/10