The Old Oak

What better film to watch on a 36 degree day than a slice of grim northern English realism from the master himself, Ken Loach. The Old Oak is reported to be Loach's final film and if so, he's left us with a rough little gem. A fading village in Durham sees the arrival of a busload of Syrian refugees, much to the disdain of several residents. It opens with one of these yobs in a NUFC shirt 'accidentally' smashing the camera of Yara, a young woman from the bus, played by Ebla Mari. Tommy Joe Ballantyne (Dave Turner) tries to calm things down and so begins an unlikely but sweet friendship.

This is real heart-on-sleeve filmmaking, personal but very affecting. The slightly amateurish performances underline the naturalism, the almost documentary feel of the film. The analogous plight of the ex-miners in the town and the refugees is not accidental and Loach (and his usual writer, Paul Laverty) imbue the film with barely contained proletariat anger. But as in many of the director's films, the people suffering the injustices can't locate their most worthy target - the system's architects and benefactors are far away - so all that's left to bear the brunt is those below. Dave says as much to an old mate who he rails against for this myopic viewpoint.

The Old Oak of the title is a decrepit pub, which serves as a metaphor for the village, the UK, maybe even the world in general, but also, on a micro level, Tommy Joe himself. TJ has lost people and is barely hanging on, with the help of a little mutt that 'found' him on a particularly rough day. One scene involving his dog is a tough watch, but underlines the bleakness of the situation.

Dave Turner has been in only three films; I, Daniel Blake, Sorry We Missed You and this one, all made by Loach. He's excellent at making you believe he's a normal bloke. He probably isn't even acting, per se, just reading the lines, but that's the point. Mari is also a relative newcomer, a theatre teacher from the Golan Heights (Syria but under Israeli occupation), and she doesn't really need to 'act' either, though she's clearly an ace.

The film harks back to Thatcher's reign of terror, and the similarities between the miners' strikes in the UK at that time and the Syrian refugees are stark - all up against it, all struggling - but the film's rallying cry is for accord, solidarity and acceptance. Not a bad wish. One of Yara's friends once told her that "hope is obscene" but Loach and Laverty do a fine job of countermanding that sentiment.

On a side note, I found it amusing that the Geordie characters were subtitled, as well as the Arabic for the Syrians. Why aye man!

The Old Oak is screening as part of the Cunard British Film Festival 2023 around the country from Nov 1st.

See also:

Can't go wrong with any of Loach's catalogue but a couple of great films that represent Newcastle and Durham are Mike Hodges's Get Carter (1971) and Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot (2000).