Film Shapes

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 direc...