Blue sky stretches over Newcastle’s mighty bridges, the Tyne beneath reflecting shiny riverside developments. It’s a far cry from the grey concrete landscape of Ken Loach’s new film I, Daniel Blake. The titular character, a fictional 59-year-old joiner, inhabits this very city. His is a world of Jobcentres, chilly council houses and gloomy frustration.
Blake’s creator, the socialist director behind classic Sixties working-class films like Cathy Come Home and Kes, is here to introduce his new work to the city where it’s set. But the film very nearly didn’t happen at all – just a couple of years ago, Loach was hinting at his retirement from filmmaking. In 2014, his team suggested that Loach’s 29th feature film, Jimmy’s Hall, would be his last big project.
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