am i not getting something?

People don't like being asked difficult questions, that's why they disliked the movie. Simple as that.

-Goodnight, mother of six!
-Goodnight, father of two!

Much as I appreciate the complexities shown in the film, I must admit it's a film with a message. Loud and clear. Too loud and too clear. Ken Loach has the temperament of a journalist and that shows. Doesn't help the film.

On a more positive note, I liked how almost every scene in the film is loaded with conflict and how this affects the character development of Angie. At the end we realise she's just ruthless. Again, a bit one-sided maybe but nonetheless unexpected.

I wonder what the box office results in Poland will be. So far it's been broadly promoted and commented on. The cinema theatre last night was full.

1. i've just seen the film and I was very impressed. flawless. the subject is difficult to digest, it's one of the occidental societies taboos. funny though, cos immigration of labor exists since the times.

2. i'm neither british. nor polish, but the theme is universal.

3. the polish male actor is hot. i want more.

For me it's just the opposite, I'm surprised anyone liked the film.

I thought the film would be saying something about what is going on and why in labour markets.

In the film, the polish workers who come to england are unhappy and feel exploited. Angie's father makes the point that letting foreigners work for lower wages is bad for english workers. It's highly unlikely that so many foreigners would come to england if it was wholly uninteresting for them. In the film, what makes the foreigners come anyway is that they are consistently fooled over many years by evil people.

Look how evil she is. She is even evil with her son, shouting at him when he feels neglected, showing him violent films and even feeding him delivery pizzas. But at least she is an exception. The normal english people around her, her father, mother, her associate, the kind of social workers who examine her situation, all recognise her as evil. The normal english people are not evil.

This strikes me as completely unbelievable. I think much more evil is done by people choosing to look the other way, and making damaging actions socially acceptable. In the film, no one gives Angie credit for her energy and her resourcefuleness. In real life it would probably be enough for her to be admired by at least a few people, who might later follow her example. Instead the film seems to say the whole evil of society can be traced to a handful of ostracized psychopaths.

(Disclaimer: I watched the french version, where none of the foreigners has a realistic accent. There is a very faint possibility that in the original brilliant acting makes you forget the story's weaknesses.)