There was some fallout.
After picking up the accolade for outstanding British film for I, Daniel Blake, director Ken Loach used his acceptance speech to call the Tory government “callous, brutal and disgraceful.”
As many of you will know, Loach has been fiercely political throughout his esteemed career. The director of Kes and Looking for Eric has been a lifelong member of the Labour Party, he left following the Blair-Brown axis.
In fact, Loach recently returned to the political realm when he filmed a one-hour documentary titled In Conversation with Jeremy Corbyn during the run-up to that year’s Labour Leadership election.
While Loach’s previous films like The Wind that Shakes the Barley and Hidden Agenda are overtly political, I, Daniel Blake is arguably his most scathing film yet.
The Palme d’Or winning title revolves around Daniel Blake, a middle aged carpenter who requires state welfare after injuring himself is joined by a single mother in a similar scenario.
Given the context of the plot and the fact that the story of unemployment and desperation resonated with thousands of people, Loach decided to use his Bafta accolade as the opportunity to critiscise the social-political policies of the Tory government.
The director praised his cast for “endorsing the truth of that this film says, which is that hundreds of thousands of people – the vulnerable and the poorest people – are treated by the this government with a callousness and brutality that is disgraceful.”
Here’s his speech in full.
Clip via – Imajsa Claimant
Since the speech was made, Conservative MP Tim Loughton expressed his disdain for Loach’s critical take on the Tory government, labeling the words of acclaimed filmmaker as “predictable dribble.”
Just had a great night at the BAFTAS apart from the usual predictable drivel from Ken Loach in his own La La Land
— Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 (@timloughton) February 12, 2017
Since this tweet was sent, comedian John Bishop is just one of the many people that took issue with the idea that Loughton is “out of touch” with ordinary people.
if there was ever an example of how out of touch you and your government are with ordinary people it's that tweet.
— John Bishop (@JohnBishop100) February 12, 2017
