美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Daniel Blake' Skewers The Red Tape That Keeps The Downtrodden Down

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: 

British director Ken¹ Loach is both an award-winning filmmaker and a social activist². His latest film, "I, Daniel Blake," combines those two passions. It's about a man tangled³ in bureaucratic⁴ red tape. And though Loach cast a stand-up comic in the title role, critic Bob Mondello says the film is about a situation almost no one would regard as funny.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE⁵: We've all been in Daniel Blake's shoes, trying to get a faceless bureaucracy to just hear us.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I, DANIEL BLAKE")

NATALIE ANN JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) Good morning, Mr. Blake. My name's Amanda. I've got a couple of questions here for you today to establish your eligibility⁶ for employment support allowance. It won't take up much of your time.

MONDELLO: This conversation takes place under the opening credits.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I, DANIEL BLAKE")

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) Could I just ask firstly, can you walk more than 50 meters unassisted by any other person?

DAVE JOHNS: (As Daniel) Yes.

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) OK. Can you raise either arm as if to put something in your top pocket?

JOHNS: (As Daniel) I filled it in already on your 52-page form.

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) Yeah, I see that you have, but unfortunately I couldn't make out what you had said there.

MONDELLO: You've heard about the rock and the hard place.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I, DANIEL BLAKE")

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) Can you raise either arm to the top of your head as if you were putting on a hat?

JOHNS: (As Daniel) I've told you, there's nothing wrong with me arms and legs.

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) Could you just answer the question please?

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Well, you've got me medical records. Can we just talk about me heart?

MONDELLO: Daniel Blake had a heart attack on the job. He looks hale and hearty⁷. He's not.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I, DANIEL BLAKE")

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) So was that a yes that you can put a hat on your head?

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Yes.

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) OK, that's great. Do you have any significant difficulty conveying a simple message to strangers?

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Yes, yes, it's [expletive] hard. I'm trying to tell you, but you're not listening.

JAMIESON: (As Employment Support Allowance Assessor) Mr. Blake, if you continue to speak to us like that, that's not going to be very helpful for your assessment⁸.

MONDELLO: I mentioned a rock and a hard place. In Daniel's case, the rock is England's National Health Service. The hard place - its pensions department. His doctors say he should avoid stress. The pensions folks...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I, DANIEL BLAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) On the one hand, job seeker's allowance is only for those able and ready to work. But if you're ill, you'll have to apply for employment and support.

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Well, then can you give me a form for, you know, job seeker's allowance and then an appeal form for employment and support?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) You have to apply online, sir.

JOHNS: (As Daniel) I cannot do that. You know, you give me a plot of land, I can build you a house. But I've never been anywhere near a computer.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) But you know what? We're digital by default.

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Well, I'm pencil by default.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) There's a special number if you've been diagnosed as dyslexic.

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Right, well, can you give us that because with computers, I'm dyslexic.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) You'll find it online, sir.

MONDELLO: Director Ken Loach isn't just skewering⁹ a system that seems designed more to frustrate¹⁰ than to help. He's arguing that a prosperous society that places obstacles in the paths of people who are already struggling ought to be ashamed of itself. And he's arguing it with a passion that is contagious¹¹ - first when the title character, who's played with wit and resilience by Dave Johns, tries to struggle free of his own red tape and then when Daniel tries to help a young single mother who's getting a different sort of runaround.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I, DANIEL BLAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) You've created a scene. I think you need...

HAYLEY SQUIRES¹²: (As Katie) Oh, I've created a - no, Mate...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) I think I need you to leave the building.

SQUIRES: (As Katie) ...If I was going to create a scene, you'd know about it. Trust me.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) You need to leave the building.

SQUIRES: (As Katie) Well, what am I supposed to do?

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Jesus Christ, who's first in the queue?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) I am.

JOHNS: (As Daniel) Do you mind if this young lass...

SQUIRES: (As Katie) Come here.

JOHNS: (As Daniel) ...Signs on first?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) No, no, you carry on.

JOHNS: (As Daniel) There you go. Now you can go back to your desk and let us sign on and do the job that a taxpayer¹³ pays you for. This is a bloody¹⁴ disgrace.

MONDELLO: He gets them all thrown out, but in the process, he makes a friend. Soon, Daniel's playing grandfather, popping over to the woman's apartment to fix heaters. And when he sees that she's barely eating so her kids will have more, he accompanies her to a food bank.

There, she endures a humiliation¹⁵ that should move the most hardened supply-sider and that will remind audiences that Ken Loach remains¹⁶ in his 80th year not just a crusader for but a poet of the underclass.

Yes, "I, Daniel Blake" is a piece of social-realist fiction. It's also a cinematic cry from the heart, uncommonly¹⁷ resonant¹⁸ at this moment in time. I'm Bob Mondello.

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

4 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

7 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 skewering   

v.（用串肉扦或类似物）串起，刺穿( skewer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But Mr Stone is more interested in skewering rapacious financiers than rash homeowners. 但是斯通先生更感兴趣的是去讥讽贪婪的金融家，而不是冲动的物业购买者。 来自互联网

10 frustrate   

v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦

参考例句：

• But this didn't frustrate Einstein.He was content to go as far as he could.但这并没有使爱因斯坦灰心，他对能够更深入地研究而感到满意。
• They made their preparations to frustrate the conspiracy.他们作好准备挫败这个阴谋。

11 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

12 squires   

n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The family history was typical of the Catholic squires of England. 这个家族的历史，在英格兰信天主教的乡绅中是很典型的。 来自辞典例句
• By 1696, with Tory squires and Amsterdam burghers complaining about excessive taxes. 到1696年，托利党的乡绅们和阿姆斯特丹的市民都对苛捐杂税怨声载道。 来自辞典例句

13 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

14 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

15 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 uncommonly   

adv. 稀罕(极，非常)

参考例句：

• an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
• My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。

18 resonant   

adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的

参考例句：

• She has a resonant voice.她的嗓子真亮。
• He responded with a resonant laugh.他报以洪亮的笑声。