“The Old Oak” tells the story of a country reuniting

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SALT LAKE CITY – Traditions run deep in the small villages of northern England that provide the backdrop for “The Old Oak.” In each place there was a hole in the ground where generations of miners worked and their families survived. All of that began to disappear as the mines closed one by one over the last thirty years, leaving behind rows of empty houses and boarded-up shops.

Here we find County Durham, more specifically The Old Oak, the last pub in the area and the last meeting place of a community in drastic change.

Syrian refugees move into the village. Housing is cheap and a good place for new beginnings, but some locals are not happy about this influx of immigrants. And they have no problem expressing their anger to the point where tensions boil over when a bus full of Syrians pulls up on the main road and things get ugly.

A young refugee, Yara (Ebla Mari), begins photographing the people and their new surroundings. A townswoman takes exception and grabs her camera, a fight ensues and the camera gets the worst of it. The lens is broken but the rest can be repaired.

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She bravely enters “The Old Oak” and demands that the young man pay for the damage. The friendly pub owner Tommy Joe Ballantyne (Dave Turner) knows who the child is, but also knows that he won't lift a hand to solve the problem. So Tommy Joe, or TJ as he is known locally, agrees to take some of his grandfather's old equipment to a camera shop in exchange for repairing the camera.

Yara and her family are so grateful for TJ's help that they invite him to dinner and the ice is broken. Now if others can see what he sees, perhaps there is hope for bridging this cultural divide.

One of the first things you'll notice about a film directed by Ken Loach is that he likes his scenes to be structured but not overproduced. He lets his characters' dialogue flow freely and hopes for a natural exchange and real feelings. He gets a lot of that here, because the natural conversations are lively and often rude, especially when it comes to dissatisfied people.

Translation? Prepare for a barrage of F-bombs used as adjectives, nouns, verbs, etc. The point is: it's just the way some locals talk, and you have to grin and bear it or you just won't go.

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One of the sayings on a back room wall at The Old Oak reads, “When you eat together, you stay together.” The only problem is that the back room isn't up to code, has probably been closed to public use for a few decades, and neither is TJ who still has the desire to change that – until now.

He and Yara see this as a way to bring the two sides together over a good meal. It won't be easy and they will need a lot of help and donations, but maybe it's worth a try.

That's what I love about this film. If only we could find a way to reconnect our divisions in this country. Well, at least a boy can dream.

“The Old Oak” doesn’t have a rating, but probably has an R for language. With Dave Turner, Ebla Mari, Claire Rodgerson, Trevor Fox and Chris McGlade. Directed by Ken Loach (“I, Daniel Blake,” “Sorry We Missed You”) – filmed in County Durham, England, United Kingdom. Running time: 113 minutes.

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