Cannes 2023: "The Old Oak" is a well-intentioned film, but it doesn't have enough emotional strength!

MOVIE REVIEWS

May 27, 2023 @ 4:34pm

“The Old Oak” competes for the Palme d’Or in Cannes in 2023. The film tells of a small English town where a group of refugees arrive. All residents work together to improve the living conditions of everyone.

The Old Oak: The film by director Ken Loach competes for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2023.

Director Ken Loach’s The Old Oak is in the main competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. His drama film revolves around a lonely man, TJ (Dave Turner), in a small English town where a group of Syrian refugees arrive. Distrust and prejudice characterize the atmosphere. Now TJ wants to work together with the Syrian Yara (Ebla Mari) to improve the living conditions of everyone.

The film not only addresses racism, but also poverty and the dissatisfaction of the people with the British government in smaller towns that are far from the metropolises. This is a very interesting discourse, as alleged racists are very often labeled as such and their opinions ignored.

“The Old Oak” sheds a nice light on different perspectives in the refugee crisis and walks a very fine line: Does the film legitimize racism in some places or does it try to understand people who find little attention in social discourse?

The film is clearly well intentioned, but walking a fine line is very dangerous and as the film is told from the point of view of an English man who, as an observer, understands both sides, I find the film difficult to watch. It’s important to show both sides and to talk to people to avoid false prejudices, but the film might have worked better if Yara had been at the center of the story.

Since the focus is now on those who actually understand little about the actual situation in Syria and the situation is only lightly illuminated, the film seems a bit artificial and doesn’t have the emotional impact that it would have liked.

This is a very personal point of view and I’m sure others will see it differently. In general, I have to say that the whining is at a high level. “The Old Oak” isn’t the best movie of all time, but it’s definitely a good movie with good messages and important themes.

Lead actress Ebla Mari and lead actor Dave Turner play very well and the film is gripping almost throughout. If you’re in the mood for a multi-layered social drama, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth with “The Old Oak”, despite the comic aftertaste!

A good film that is meant even better!

Ken Loach wants to address the social divide in England. It’s about racial prejudice and poverty in rural areas. It’s about people’s dissatisfaction with the government. The film can address different points of view with a lot of sensitivity and is quite diplomatic and precise. However, at times the film seems to try too hard to legitimize racist ideas, which leaves a bitter aftertaste.