THE OLD OAK is a special place. Not only is it the last pub standing, but it’s also the only remaining public space where people can meet in a once thriving mining community that has now fallen on hard times after 30 years of decline. TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) the landlord hangs on to The Old Oak by his fingertips, and his predicament is endangered even more when the pub becomes contested territory after the arrival of Syrian refugees who are placed in the village without any notice. In an unlikely friendship TJ meets a curious young Syrian Yara [Ebla Mari] with her camera. Can they find a way for the two communities to understand each other? So unfolds a deeply moving drama about their fragilities and hopes
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Watched this excellent Ken Loach kitchen sink style drama last weekend.
Some of the ingrained racist & prejudicial views make for challenging viewing at times but I applaud the warts & all storytelling & these viewpoints do soften as the story gets going. It’s also kinda easier to understand in a community where bleak & long-term hardships are sympathetically laid out.
Reliable weekend tat. Good action and the obligatory carnage. The wrap round is a little half hearted, but it works as an easy stress buster when you can’t concentrate hard enough for anything with a plot that matters.
One Day. I read the book when it came out. It was perfectly ok. I later saw the film which was weak. Now the TV series which again was weak albeit more engaging than the film. The female character Emma is supposed to be a bit feisty and opinionated but not glum and miserable the whole time. It meant that you couldn’t really believe anyone would make the effort to maintain a prolonged friendship with her. Good 80s, 90s, noughties soundtrack though.
We went last night too, and loved it. I can actually see Villeneuve making some sense of the next part too.
Its a visual feast. I loved the Harkonnens levitating up the rock face in the opening scene and Paul’s first worm ride was simply epic. Some changes from the book, but I can understand that. A toddler running around spraffing complex dialogue might have been somewhat tricky to achieve!
A nod to Lynch with ants crawling around the Barron’s dead ear?
Unfortunately the nearest one is over an hour away and usually shows mountaineering flics. We do have an old fashioned, enthusiast run, cinemascope screen (43ft) Art Deco cinema complete with decent sound system . Far better than the local multi screen effort.
The original sound system was a Western Electric, must see if they still have the old horns tucked away
