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      Brassed Off

      R Released May 23, 1997 1 hr. 49 min. Comedy Drama List
      80% 49 Reviews Tomatometer 79% 10,000+ Ratings Audience Score In a village in Northern England, Danny (Pete Postlethwaite), the conductor of a colliery brass band, has difficulty maintaining the morale of his musicians when the economic future of the area is threatened by the possibility that the local coal mine will be closed. When a former resident, Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald), returns to assess the mine, she get involved with her former flame, Andy (Ewan McGregor), and also the band, joining them in their last hurrah at a national competition. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Feb 21 Buy Now

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      Brassed Off

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      Critics Consensus

      Brassed Off combines inspiring drama with populist socioeconomics to create a film whose familiar outlines are filled in with genuine and surprisingly palpable emotion.

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      Audience Reviews

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      paul o It provides a telling, and accurate, story of the effects of major closures, and redundancies, in former key industries, like coal. Very well acted and directed. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/02/24 Full Review Matthew B In Britain during the 1980s, the longest and most bitter political conflict was not fought in the House of Parliament or behind the doors of 10 Downing Street. It was not rivalry and splits within an individual political party, or a clash between the two leading parties of the day. It was the fight between the government and the coal miners. In 1984, the miners went on strike in a bid to prevent the government from closing down collieries. The strike lasted for a whole year, but the Conservative government (led by Margaret Thatcher) refused to back down, and finally the defeated miners returned to work. Much acrimony is attached to the name of Margaret Thatcher in particular, and some of the bitterest speeches in Brassed Off concern Thatcher and the Tories. The very title of the movie, whilst punning on brass bands, reminds us that many miners were indeed brassed off (angry or fed up) with their predicament. Anger can be a powerful motivation for making great art, but sometimes it can be a hindrance too, and I was personally not too enthusiastic to see characters delivering long foul-mouthed diatribes against the government while performing in front of children, or on stage in the Albert Hall. Mark Herman, who directed and wrote the screen play for Brassed Off, is firmly on the side of the miners. He sees the failure of the Miners Strike and the subsequent closure of all or most of the pits as a tragedy, in which whole communities suffered as a result. The film takes place in 1994, and it is not dealing with the Miners Strike, but with the aftermath. The Grimley colliery is under threat of closure, and there is no longer any fight left in the miners. The atmosphere is one of weariness and demoralisation. Some miners are still in debt after the last strike, especially Phil Ormondroyd (Stephen Tompkinson), who went to prison during that period. Herman's film celebrates band music, whilst sadly acknowledging that it is a dying tradition. The professions and the communities most associated with this kind of music are falling away, being replaced by a culture of individualism, as we see in the film. The film is ambiguous in its treatment of the band. We are encouraged to love their music. The film contains a number of familiar tunes played beautifully by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. The most moving scene is one where Phil's father, Danny (Pete Postlethwaite) is hospitalised, and the band gather outside his window to perform Danny Boy. Yet there is also a critique of the band. It is seen an increasingly archaic institution, doomed to die with the closure of the pit. Many of the tunes are played over montages showing the final struggles of the unions and others against the pit closures, and we are left with a sense that the band are fiddling while Rome burns. We are not being asked to feel sorry for the characters, or to be lulled into a false sense of security that everything will work out. We are being invited to feel angry about the betrayal and decline of a proud industry, and the communities that were left abandoned in its wake. With warmth and good humour, Mark Herman has presented an eloquent and elegiac account of the final years of the industry that once kept the lights on in Britain. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/16/23 Full Review steve d Rarely is so much effort put into telling a story with this little to it. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member It's easy to draw comparisons between Brassed Off and something like The Full Monty (1997) although the former is a tad more poignant, focusing more on the crisis of a local pit closure forcing the future of Grimley town into an economic black hole. Although the film is light hearted and an underdog story, it tells an important tale of the struggle of small mining towns during the time of the country wide pit closures. It also features excellent performances, especially from Ewan McGregor and the late, exceptional, Pete Postlethwaite. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review mike s Fantastic film. The rendition of the Rodriguez concerto alone makes it worth seeing - Peter Poselthwaite's performance alone makes it with seeing. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Without a doubt one of the finest movies to discover during the 2020 pandemic. Heard about it and when it was there on the shelf, I bought it just to see what it was like. A truly underrated, magnificent picture. Superbly written and directed, but the performances stand-out. Pete Postlewaite, Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald, Jim Carter and Stephen Tompkinson are outstanding! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Lisa Alspector Chicago Reader Pete Postlethwaite is moving as the bandleader, whose dream of taking his players to compete at the Albert Hall nearly eclipses his appreciation of the dire issues they face. Sep 9, 2020 Full Review Paul Tatara CNN.com "Brassed Off" is about as sloppy as it gets, but for nearly two-thirds of the movie the gushiness is pretty much kept in check. And those two thirds are quite a treat. Sep 9, 2020 Full Review Quentin Curtis Daily Telegraph (UK) It survives through its never-failing sense of humour and the fact that by its loving depiction of alternative values -- of warmth and community -- to the ones it assaults, you feel it has earned the right to turn attacker. Nov 22, 2017 Full Review Mal Vincent The Virginian-Pilot Brassed Off' should not be missed. Rated: 4/4 Mar 28, 2022 Full Review Tracey Petherick Common Sense Media You'll definitely laugh, you'll probably cry, and you might even want to take up the flugelhorn. Rated: 4/5 Oct 21, 2021 Full Review Leah Rozen People Magazine The movie delivers way too much doom-and-gloom-pah-pah. Sep 9, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis In a village in Northern England, Danny (Pete Postlethwaite), the conductor of a colliery brass band, has difficulty maintaining the morale of his musicians when the economic future of the area is threatened by the possibility that the local coal mine will be closed. When a former resident, Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald), returns to assess the mine, she get involved with her former flame, Andy (Ewan McGregor), and also the band, joining them in their last hurrah at a national competition.
      Director
      Mark Herman
      Screenwriter
      Mark Herman
      Distributor
      Miramax Films
      Production Co
      Miramax
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      May 23, 1997, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Dec 6, 2011
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $2.6M
      Sound Mix
      Surround
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