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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.
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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