"IT'S A FREE WORLD"... OR IS IT ?

Ah, the irony of the title alone… But then again, that’s Ken Loach for you… It is true he is one of the last directors who have taken it onto themselves to fight for equality and liberty throughout the world… This is what the critics like to call a “stinging criticism of modern society”. It is also, however, a very, VERY good film. So much so that my Mom got quite upset while watching it (because it was good not otherwise) and decided she “just couldn’t take it”, stopping watching it all together…
Well, meet Angie. She’s a common or garden wage slave like you or me but the thing is, her job is a little original. She works with an agency that places immigrants from various countries in the UK for jobs. It’s a tiring job, but she’s good at it and she needs to make a living for herself and her son Jamie (of whom her parents hold custody). But one fateful day, well to put no finer point on it, she is fired. Anyone who has been fired before knows full well this is NOT a pleasant experience. And in her anger Angie vows she has had enough of being a cog in the system, she wants to be a wheel. Heck, she wants to found her own system. So she does. Found her own company that is. Rose, her friend and business partner – and the more cautious one of the two – cannot quite believe Angie’s bravado, but the masses of money rolling in soon make the whole operation very real indeed… However as the amount of money and power involved grows, Angie just can’t seem to be able to stop… With human lives and thousands of pounds literally in her hands, Angie is no longer a cog, this much is certain, but what then, has she become exactly?
Immigration. I can’t think of a European country that is not “involved” in it first hand in this day and age… The populations of bigger, richer countries complain of the influx of hopefuls looking for a better life, the populations smaller ones dream of joining said influx… But as we complain of “Polish plumbers taking our jobs” we would do well to remember that the said “monster” would not be here “taking our jobs” unless he/she had to. Desperation is the buzz-word here, no doubt about that, and it is this desperation that the “system” or “systems” – like Angie – abuse. What is to be done about it? Well, it is hard to say, ideally the entire planet should be changed to make a fairer, more just system in the entire world, but obviously that will not be happening any time too soon… Still, that doesn’t mean that the plights of untold thousands who, for God knows what reason, set off into the world in search of a better life should be ignored… Call me a hopeless optimist if you will, but I believe it is possible to make the world a better, fairer place… And openly discussing our problems is a very, Very good start.