Brassed Off (1997)

Before I start I'll say that "Brassed Off" is a silly name for this film. I would have chose something else. "King Coal" maybe? I dunno... anything but "Brassed Off".Anyway, I'm from one of South Yorkshire's ex-mining communities so I approached this film with a more critical mind. The coalfields have never been depicted well on film so I approached this with low expectations... and it exceeded them.This film really feels like they did their research. The accents are done pretty well and I definitely feel like I'm looking at a Barnsley mining village when I watch it, so I guess they did well with that. It's one of the better portrayals of South Yorkshire's coalfields, though there are still Northerner clichés in places that bug me.The main problem with this film is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. It doesn't know if it's a comedy or a hard hitting social commentary condemning Thatcher and the Conservative party. If they wanted to do a social commentary they should have just done a straight up social commentary. No need for any romance stuff. It's the social commentary and seeing how these characters cope with the situations they face which interest me the most and make this movie.There is comedy in here, which does stop the film from getting too depressing and political, though saying that if you're looking for a comedy then you might be disappointed as it does get pretty serious in the middle of the movie as the harsh reality of the situation hits home for the characters. If you're looking for more laughs I recommend The Full Monty instead.I really wish they would have gotten rid of the unnecessary sub plot; the relationship between Gloria and Andy. To me it brings brings nothing to the movie, but I suppose at the time there was the mentality that "you must have at least one tale of romance in a film". I suppose if that's your thing (like the Jack and Rose romance on Titanic) then you'll like it I suppose. They do have chemistry. It's just not what I think the film should have a large focus on. The mine is closing and this probably had a huge effect on the lives of people in that community. The romance sub-plot is small potatoes.It's a good film, though in my opinion The Full Monty did it better. It blended comedy, romance, drama, commentary on masculinity and politics way better. Brassed Off didn't keep it simple, doesn't flow as well, feels like a load of ideas slopped into one and the romance sub-plot is too distracting and ruins the film. I still recommend you watch this though (maybe after The Full Monty). The cast are outstanding, the film has characters that you really want to root for, the music is great, the film at times is incredibly touching and sad and if you live in a ex-mining area like i do the message at the end really hits home.

BRASSED OFF is a 1996 movie from England - written and directed by Mark Herman - in that tradition of those movies about the working classes attempting to better themselves: THE FULLY MONTY, BILLY ELLIOT and MADE IN DAGENHAM being other prominent examples. At the time it seemed like one of the last nails in the coffin of the outgoing Tory government.It's set in a real-looking Yorkshire mining town a few years after the 1984/85 miners strike, where the local coal mine is about to be closed. The miners (Ewan McGregor, Jim Carter, Stephen Tompkinson and others) find solidarity in their brass band under their conductor - retired miner Danny (the late Pete Postlewaite in his finest screen role), a man for whom music matters above all else. The pit closes, but the band makes it to the national brass band competition final at the Albert Hall. On winning, you expect Danny to make some sentimental speech about how - in spite of everything - music holds the band together. Instead, he delivers probably the explicit political diatribe against the then Conservative government and the devastation unemployment inflicts on people. It's a superb moment in a film with its heart and soul in the dying working class communities of Yorkshire. This isn't a piece of Ken Loach-like realism - it's prettified and sentimentalised for a mainstream audience, yet the movie looses nothing for it.At the close, the brass band play Elgar's Pomp and Circumstace March Number 1 as they pass the Houses of Parliament. It's meant to be ironic but it's also very touching.

Brassed Off has an enjoyable cast with a heartfelt story of a local town's mine folds, and the way a bunch of the men cope - through a brass band. As a detraction, the film's pacing crawls especially in the first third of the movie. The band represents a good departure though and vehicle for economic commentary without becoming too bogged down in details. Always spectacular, Pete Postleswaite really helps bring emotion and determination in his performance as usual. He single-handedly leads the movie to a good show. Some of his band-mates also prove interesting including his son, whose story takes a lot of the screen-time in order to depict the real economic hardships that's befallen the locality. Ewan McGregor is here as more a supporting character and does a decent bit, but has been better. His role is more subdued. I'm sure this is compared to the Full-Monty, and while not as much fun or delivered as well, Brassed Off has the same spirit. Solidly recommended unless you cant stand slow pacing.

Brassed off is an amazing film and all the way through, a smile was kept on my face. Although I am only fourteen, I love films which are based on reality, just like the pit closures around England.I play in a brass band my self called Frickley South Elmsall band, and trust me, they have all the facts right; I have been to five contests in all and nearly every band member has had a drink or two before the contest it's self.I first watched this film when i was eleven and loved it. I was inspired by this movie, to actually try and make it to a colliery band, (obviously not Grimethorpe as they don't accept girls) and I have actually met the flugal player which played concerto De aran jeux, Alan Morrison.Overall, I loved this movie and have seen it more than twenty times; simply fantastic!