The Old Oak

"The final message of hope is resolutely upbeat and desperately needed."

THE OLD OAK (UK) 2023 Drama 

Director : Ken Loach

Starring :  Dave Turner  
Ebla Mari    
Claire Rodgerson
 
1 hr  53 min    

The Oak of the title is a dilapidated local pub run by TJ Ballantyne and frequented by a small gaggle of regulars, the most vocal of whom come in for a “nice quiet pint” accompanied by loud torrents of noisy vitriol that begin “I’m no racist but . . . ” Weary publican Ballantyne (Dave Turner) has managed to keep his business afloat — just about — by “not sayin’ nowt”, but spends his little spare time doing small acts of kindness for the deprived, including Yari (Ebla Mari) and her family.

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The ramshackle back room of the boozer explains the hinterland, the walls bearing memories of what was once a coal-mining community and the solidarity that saw them through the 1984 miners’ strike: “When you eat together, you stick together.” Can this spirit be revived or do the divisions now run too deep?

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