To me, this movie is perfection.

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Back home I watched "I, Daniel Blake". Quite a different film from the impression created by the trailer. In the trailer, you're shown all the upbeat stand-fast rebellious moments; you're given the feeling this plucky little man will prevail. In the film, you experience the grinding soul-devastating hopelessness of desperate poverty through the eyes of a good simple man suddenly at the mercy of a bureaucracy that's forgotten how to care. An excellent film with fine performances by Dave Johns & Hayley Squires, but not one I ever want to watch again. Just too damn real.

The benefits system grinds you down. It can put you off claiming if you think you are only going to be out of work for a month or so, which is probably the intention of some people in government. So this is a worthy film to make, but the story here seems heavily exaggerated.. In the first half of the film every single misfortune, setback and inconvenience happens to Daniel, one after the other in a way that does not appear believe-able. He is portrayed solely as honest, warm and wholesome while the people who stand in his way are all mean, curt and heartless. Many of the characters seem artificially created or they talk in stitled dialogue to get a political message across rather than give an honest or credible account of being out of work.. The film and the plot really picks up as the relationship between Daniel and Kate develops - the last 15 minutes shows how good the film could have been.

When this movie won the best picture at Cannes, eyes were raised, attention sought, and interest generated. Ken Loach at 80 years still holds the fervor of activism of working class people struggling to meet ends. Ken narrates the apathy the bureaucratic system and processes inflict on a needy person through the eyes of two characters - One is Daniel Blake (played subtly by Dave Johns) and other is Katie Morgan (played by Hayley Squires.Due to heart-attack Daniel Blake is denied to do his current carpentry work, but is fit to do other odd jobs if he want subsistence allowance from government. There starts his battle with the job-center bureaucracy and here he meets Katie a single mother of two kids (girl - 9 years, boy - 7 years) who has newly arrived to New Castle and is late for the job-center interview. Daniel helps, supports, cares and gives emotional hand-holding for Katie to settle down comfortably. With no luck going in favor of either of them, Katie ends up doing a escort (prostitution) job, whereas Daniel ends up selling all his household belonging to survive - for getting two sets of meals for him.There is a also small sub-plot to lighten up the screen-time - of Daneil's neighbor China (Kena Sikazwe) who sells Chinese goods illegally.There are many outstanding dialogues and scenes that render your heart with mushy compassion for these characters. A note written by Daniel is read out in the end of the movie by Katie at his funeral ceremony, that sums up the core of the movie - the suffocating bureaucracy.:"And I swear that this lovely man, had so much more to give, and that the State drove him to an early grave."One scene in particular needs special mention because it won the most powerful scene award for the year. It is when Katie sends her daughter to give some food to Daniel, who refuses to open the door and the girls asks him "Dan, when you came and helped us, why can't we help you back?" and Daniel opens the door and breaks down hugging the child. ABSOLUTELY SOUL STIRRING!There were rumors that government,might censor the movie and lots of media debates around existing pathetic government system. The movie garnered good support and appreciation from both - people and the critics respectively. It ended up doing very good business. The relationship Daniel (60 years) and Katie (27 years) share is the best part of the movie. There is a huge age difference between the two, and they do not share romantic LOVE, but they LOVE each other deeply, and feel for each other emotionally. That humanity jumps out alive in their characters on screen.Director Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty research a lot about the problems of people on government apathy towards the job seekers and felt this story that reflect so many people's lives needs to be told. It surely resonates...!(I would give the movie 7.5 out of 10)

A damning indictment of a dehumanising culture; a continuous hamster wheel, purpose-built to break the spirit. It's a poor society that transforms those struggling, into statistics to be shoved to one side, rather than seeing them as proud people driven to desperate measures.I do disagree with Mr. Loach about one thing, though - it's not the people working within the benefits system that are the problem... it's the system itself. Don't attack the people who are just doing their job and trying to get by, like everyone else. Train that righteous anger on the real enemy - the government who keeps such draconian machinery in place, as part of an ideological vision, to further their own ends.