Brassed Off

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Glafira Regina O A very good film depicting the pitch crisis under Margaret Thatcher, when the Prime Minister decided to end the production of coal. Although I partially agree with her, it does not mean that I do not sympathise with the thousands of families who have lost their only source of income. The film shows the stories of one pitch orchestra, which is in danger of disbanding due to the closure of the Grimley mine and the lack of funds for its maintenance. Inside, each participant has his own drama. Fortunately, the film ends well. I recommend watching, especially for those interested in the history of the UK. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/01/24 Full Review Geke g Ewan McGregor as goos as DeNiro in this movie Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/05/24 Full Review 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 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/12/25 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 4/5 Stars •  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 1/5 Stars •  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 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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