Kenneth Loach is known for his social conviction and sense of responsibility for the community and ever since his debut "Poor Cow" (1967) he hasn't let the viewer down. In his 13th feature film "My Name Is Joe" (1998) Loach offers not only a realistic look at the problems of contemporary society but also in a compassionate, heart-warming tone, still leaving the viewer with a rather gloomy mood. Such emotional contrast was probably due to the fact that the reign of Margaret Thatcher had been over for 8 years and the workers' party had experienced a new rise. Hence the film manages to be both a dreary yet essential look at the past -- as if to show what really happened during Thatcher's unpleasant years of conservatism -- and a comment on how the new movement hasn't attained any concrete changes in the desolate condition.
The title protagonist of the film is Joe, an unemployed alcoholic, who begins a mundane romance with a social service woman. However, "My Name Is Joe" isn't a love story nor a wholesome portrayal of a character's life. It's precisely a fragment from the everyday life of an ordinary person. It tries not to highlight (though Loach falls to banality every now and then) nor to embellish. The title first refers to Joe's introduction at the AA-club but later on gains a significance of him opening himself, honestly and without an act of performance, to others.
In the same way as Joe, Loach is ready to show us the real conditions of the working class, without an act of embellishment. By a naturalist approach, he depicts the desolate circumstances in which alcoholism and drug addiction are immediate and inevitable reactions. They reveal a wider social phenomenon rather than the weakness of the individual.
Although the film isn't a film of sheer brilliance nor the masterpiece to define British cinema, it remains as a small sympathetic piece of work which won't disappoint the viewer and therefore doesn't leave much room for excessive criticism.
The title protagonist of the film is Joe, an unemployed alcoholic, who begins a mundane romance with a social service woman. However, "My Name Is Joe" isn't a love story nor a wholesome portrayal of a character's life. It's precisely a fragment from the everyday life of an ordinary person. It tries not to highlight (though Loach falls to banality every now and then) nor to embellish. The title first refers to Joe's introduction at the AA-club but later on gains a significance of him opening himself, honestly and without an act of performance, to others.
In the same way as Joe, Loach is ready to show us the real conditions of the working class, without an act of embellishment. By a naturalist approach, he depicts the desolate circumstances in which alcoholism and drug addiction are immediate and inevitable reactions. They reveal a wider social phenomenon rather than the weakness of the individual.
Although the film isn't a film of sheer brilliance nor the masterpiece to define British cinema, it remains as a small sympathetic piece of work which won't disappoint the viewer and therefore doesn't leave much room for excessive criticism.