The Old Oak

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I am one of the projectionists in the local small town cinema with only two or three shows per week. The end titles of a film is not only for crediting all people involved in the production, it is also a time to reflect and contemplate on what you experienced when watching the movie, and you can measure how touched people were by how long they stay during the end titles. When The Old Oak was the movie for the evening not a single one in the audience got up from their seats until the last line in the credits had passed, the screen had faded to black and the curtains closed. That is a mark of a very touching movie!

According to himself "The old oak" is his last film. Not very strange if you consider that Ken Loach is already 87 years of age. He already made films when I was hardly born and in the meantime I am nearly sixty now. "The old oak" (2023) is the last episode of the "austerity trilogy" (all films situated in or around Newcastle upon Tyne). In the first episode "I, Daniel Blake" (2016) a poor man struggles against government bureaucracy. In the second episode "Sorry we missed you" (2019) the main character is misled to become a fake entrepeneur but in reality is a worker without the usual rights. "The old oak" is about poor people (workers in a region that economically has never recovered from the closing of coal mines) that are obliged to live together with other poor people (Syrian refugees). Loach treats this theme with much more idealism (and sentimentality) than the raw reality and unhappy endings of the previous two episodes of the "austerity trilogy". The main character, pub owner T. J. Ballantyne (Dave Turner), is almost too good to be true and to a great extent he succeeds in bringing the local and Syrian communities together. Of course there are a few old men in the cast that turn out to be incurable racists, but they seem to have lost their feeling with society. Keeping hope is important, but nevertheless is "The old oak" in my opinion the weakest film of the austerity trilogy". Not only contrasts the idealism of the film with the raw reality of the two other episodes, it also contrasts with the political reality of the moment. I am not only thinking of the results of the recent elections in the Netherlands (victory for a populist party that is fiercly anti immagration) but also about the immagration policy in the Netherlands (and Europe wide) in which immigrants are treated as dangerous people that ought to be minimized instead of as people in need that ought to be helped. The four racists in the film have unfortunately not lost their feeling with society but are perfectly in sync with it. The "Oppressed people of all nations unite" of "The old oak" sounds very much like the Socialist slogan "Workers of all countries unite" from before the First World War. It didn't work then, and I am afraid it won't work now. The film reminded me very much of "Le Havre" (2011, Aki Kaurismâki). Did the excess of idealism of this film irritate me also? I don't remember exactly, it is a long time ago, but I don't think so. The films of Aki Kaurisämik have more of a fairy-tale nature than those of Ken Loach.

No one can deny that our world is deeply divided. On a global scale, the plight of refugees fleeing conflict zones provokes strong emotions, which in turn breed prejudice, drive a wedge between communities, question long-held traditions, and make it harder for those who have lost loved ones, are uprooted, and are trying to find their place in the world. Ken Loach tackles these profound issues in his movie, The Old Oak. Loach has made a name for himself with politically charged films. This one is no different, and he tackles these difficult and sensitive issues with empathy and nuance. The performances of Dave Turner and Ebla Mari (who plays Yara, one of the Syrian refugees) are outstanding, and they convey the soul and the pain of the characters. The performances from the non-professional cast are uneven, but I didn't feel this ever detracted from the film, which, at times, can feel like a blunt weapon. This film contains a few scenes that are absolutely blazing with intensity. The Old Oak brings up some important questions for us, such as how to encourage kindness and unity in our neighbourhoods. How do social media platforms affect local communities? And how can our communities' cultural divides be closed? They are all handled in a compelling, dramatic, and powerful way. If you are interested in watching films that are socially relevant, making a trip to the cinema to watch The Old Oak is something you should absolutely do. In a world that is becoming more and more torn apart, this is a powerful call for compassion and solidarity.

This film can be summarised in 2 words 2 slow and boring. The story was not very well built up the Syrians were just there no real show of the horrors or terrors they had escaped They are suddenly in the small town. Another say 30 new people. In real life this would create issues and in the movie it does. Character development was really non existent the main character lacked a back bone ignoring the guy slagging him off when he could have just barred the guy. Even after he found out what happened he didn't bar them and life continues as normal. The final ultimate fail was with all these skilled Syrians shown in the film who wanted somewhere to meet up they didn't rally together and sort everything out. So really the film just went nowhere and was pretty slow and dull. No Idea how it got high scores.

Over the years I have seen many of Ken Loach's gritty social(ist) realism films. The Old Oak is probably his last. Once again he takes a cast of amateurs and plops them in a former mining village to tell a story of working class life. The script is by his long-time collaborator Paul Laverty. What makes The Old Oak standout is the addition of a healthy dose of sentimentality. I don't remember shedding a tear at a Ken Loach film since 'Kes' . Have a box of tissues to hand when you watch this unlikely story of a pub landlord forging a bond with a group of Syrian refugees "bussed" into a former Durham mining village by TPTB without any consultation or warning to the local community. Ken gives voice to the racists who are the children of scabs who had returned to work during the 1984-85 Miners strike. He also gives voice to homeowners whose property values are destroyed by foreign property speculators. The main focus is the relationship between the pub landlord TJ, and Yarra who is the spokesperson for the Syrian families. She speaks good english (learnt while acting as a translator in a refugee hospital) and takes great photographs until her camera is smashed by a Scottish thug in a Newcastle shirt (isnae Jazzer from "The Archers"). Then there is the little dog... and of course the Miners Strike as captured in B&W photos by a young TJ but locked away in the back room. Apart from a couple of scenes the amatuer actors do a great job of breathing life into the characters they portray. The "baddies" all have previous experience acting for Ken. Big thank you to South Norwood Community Kitchen for arranging free screening.

My Review- The Old Oak My Rating - 7/10 This is a movie worth seeing as it's so relevant to the events that are occurring today on our War torn planet . Refugee numbers are increasing at an alarming rate due to conflict and climate change . Local Communities will be called on more and more to support displaced populations who must flee their bombed out cities and the destruction that threatens their lives. THE OLD OAK is the story of a village near Durham in the Northeast of England, where mine closures from The Thatcher era plus the fallout from Brexit have caused economic hardship for the local community . The inhabitants of the village feel deserted by the system which has caused many young ones to leave what was once a thriving, proud community struggling to keep old values alive. There is growing anger, resentment, and a lack of hope because their homes have dropped in value and selling cheap . This makes it an ideal location for the Syrian refugees that have been accepted by Britain in recent years. How will the Syrians be received? And what will be the future for the last remaining pub in the village, The Old Oak? This movie is well produced and directed and has some incredibly poignant moments especially the scenes in Durham Cathedral where a young Syrian refugee woman Yara beautifully played by Ebla Mari is overwhelmed by the beauty and music of The Cathedral as she relates her sadness tinged with hope to her friend and ally TJ Ballantyne the publican at The Old Oak also beautifully played by Dave Turner. She tells him about the beautiful mosques that have been bombed and destroyed in Syria by the Assad regime and wonders that her children will never see. I couldn't help but compare the current cruel conflict in Gaza and the pain and loss of civilians on both sides . The ending of The Old Oak I found a bit over sentimental and unsatisfactory but the overall message of tolerance and compassion by communities that are asked to give displaced refugees a chance of a new life very powerful. The Old Oak is directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty. It is a co-production between the United Kingdom, France and Belgium. With an incredibly modest budget of only $3.8 million location shooting took place in the northeast of England. BAFTA award winning British director Ken Loach, who turned 87 prior to the films release, told The Hollywood Reporter it would "probably" be his last film. Filming was completed in just six weeks in May 2022 with location filming taking place in County Durham , Murton, Horden and Easington. The pub in Murton that became The Old Oak during filming was a disused pub previously known as The Victoria. This is a delightful small movie with a Giant message for our troubled 21st Century that together the human spirit can conquer tyranny but first the hand of friendship must reach out to embrace new cultures and vice versa or suspicion and mistrust will win out.

The last movie of one unofficial trilogy set in the North-East of England, which likely Ken Loach is giving his farewell to feature films. In his last two movies, " I, Daniel Blake" and" Sorry we missed", Ken Loach and Paul Laverty (screenwriter) told us stories about our vulnerability as just humans in this world with great challenges ahead, much greater than us. Those stories have been told from the "inside "perspective of human beings born and raised in the North-East of England where, for different reasons, their nature as human beings is put under discussion. But in his last movie, Loach assumes the perspective of an "outsider" of who has no other choice, rather to leave everything behind and find a new place to just live. But as humans, we still did not manage to build a place everyone can call home, and feel just human. At the beginning of the movie, Loach shows us a reality which is reluctant to any change and improvement whether from the outside or the inside. The message is clear, like a black and white picture from Yara's (Ebla Mari) camera : the world will not change, there is nothing left worth fighting for. But sometimes something small can be done. The world will not change, but some of us can. And then you will get to share your meal at the Old Oak with whoever decides to do so, and all the others can just turn down the invitation. Together we eat Together we fight Thank you Ken.