The Old Oak
The Ken Loach film gives a raw insight into a community wrecked by government policy, and gives hope at least some hope for humanity
Depictions of the North East often, as someone born and bred in the region, make me watch on uncomfortably. The media image of the region is one of total destitution and a place where old men spout racism whilst wearing flat caps in unwelcoming pubs.
The Old Oak is the latest film from Ken Loach, the man behind the incredible work that is ‘I, Daniel Blake.’ His new work is a tough watch in places, with the racism experienced by people moving from war zones addressed in the opening seconds.
Viewers are transported to an unnamed former coal mining village in County Durham, although those who know will recognise snippets of both Easington and Murton. The pub at the centre of the story is the last in the village, which like many in the north east was sentenced to economic decline when its pit shut.
A Syrian family becomes the latest to be moved into the village, and this instantly strikes up anger from locals. The village is down on its luck, but the dedicated efforts of locals and those from overseas light a fire that burns through racism and bigotry.
TJ (Dave Turner) tells Yara (Ebla Mari) about how the village had a strong sense of community and comradeship during the 1984–85 Miners’ Strike. The UK Government attempted to starve the miners back to work, and to tackle this whole village would eat together. Yara explains to TJ how this is something she did with her family before leaving Syria, and it spawned an idea to bring the people together.
The Conservatives in the 1980s were keen on dismissing community as a concept, with Margaret Thatcher famously saying in 1987 that there was no such thing. Of course, the people uniting as one is not something Tory’s have ever been overly keen on, hence the Thatcher government’s focus on stripping unions of their power.
When in the back room of the pub, looking at the photos of the village’s rich industrial past, TJ tells Yara about what his father told him about the workers. This was that if the workers had the confidence to come together they could change the world, but that during the strike they never did. The miners went up against a government hell-bent on putting them in their place, and it took almost a full year for them to finally grind these communities down.
This talk helps to inspire TJ and Yara to launch the community meal and bring together locals and those from Syria. It is a wholesome scene, and shows that humans can be united through the simplest of gestures
For me, one of the main takes away from the film is that not enough people don’t realise who they should be directing anger towards. The wealthy politicians and those in power want us to be angered by immigration, as it helps to divert attention away from government faults.
Someone who has fled a country in which half of the buildings have been reduced to rubble is not your enemy, and rediscovering a community spirit many believe is long gone will be a big step forward for our country.
