Brassed Off - Mit Pauken und Trompeten

This film has everything: Humour. Poignancy. A message. Human characters. Warmth. A great cast and good story. Interesting locales. Creative techniques. (Watch for the clown scenes and especially the one in the playground.) "Brassed Off" was (and is) a powerful editorial indictment of the Thatcher government of the time. Yet it does not preach other than in the opening and closing credits which are pithy and innovative. Anytime you see something with the Channel Four label on it, you know it will be interesting, provocative and a little different. They outdid themselves on this.

'Brassed Off' came at just the right time for British politics, just as the death knell for the Conservative Party as the main political force sounded; the story fictionalises the troubles of the real-life Grimethorpe Colliery Band (who you hear playing the great brass band tunes throughout).

There are pit closures all over Yorkshire, and 'Grimley' Band has one last chance to triumph in the various band contests to end up playing at the Royal Albert Hall. This being drama of course the path to victory isn't a smooth one - there is bankruptcy, illness, broken marriages, and a clash with the new executive power (represented by Tara Fitzgerald, also taking a place in the band for her father). Romantic interest for Tara is present in cute Ewan McGregor - an unusually quiet role for him.

Say what you like about the way this film portrays the North of England, there is no denying the power of the final sequences as the triumph of 'William Tell' turns into Postlethwaite's power rant against the Government and into the trip home's 'Land of Hope and Bloody Glory'. It really couldn't have been done better.

I was lucky enough to catch this movie in the theater and still luckier to come across it again on video. How anyone can call it a comedy is beyond me. Yes there are some laughs, but there are far more tears; some of pain, some of joy. This is a drama with a sense of humor. You have to keep a sense of humor to survive when life kicks you in the gut.

I've read some reviews condemning the politics of this film. Well, I applaud the political message. I grew up near an industrial town; one centered on the auto industry, heavy machinery, and agri-business. As I got older, I watched it disintegrate, through the 70's and 80's, as the grain embargo, auto industry woes and recession bled the life out of the town. It has never recovered. Many of us felt that Reagan and Thatcher, and their descendants, were monsters who sold their people out for a quick buck; while the parties that were supposed to represent the workers and middle class joined in the takings. To us, this isn't an anti-Thatcher film; it's the truth.

The performances of this film, particularly Pete Postlethwaite and Stephen Tompkinson, as well as Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald are top notch. There is a sweet and painful romance here; but it is the community of the miners, through the life of the band, that is the center here. The music is beautiful and will move you. The piece played as the pit closure is finalized stirs so many emotions. The rendition of "Danny Boy" brings tears to your eyes. The review in our local alternative paper said the surprise near the end would reduce even the hardest heart to tears, and they were right.

There is so much to see and love about this film, regardless of your political beliefs. Music does matter, but the people who create it matter, too. Communities matter, love matters. This is what good filmmaking is all about. See this film. You'll laugh a bit, cry a lot, get angry, become sad; but, you'll never be bored.

Director is Mark Herman but the movie themes remind Ken Loach and its stories about people losing jobs but keeping their dignity... Basically everything is inspired by events that really took place over Margaret Thatcher Government (when the film is set). Miners living in a Yorkshire small town (Grimley), when laid off, try to continue the activity of their band, though sadness due to economic repression is a real threat to it. But Ewan McGregor and Pete Postlewait (who on earth might forget him after "In the name of the father"?) are really powerful, two thumbs up. Altogether I really appreciated the way this film tells of fight for self-respect and courage.

I just want to correct a couple of things that the previous reviewer makes about the film.

Firstly, from a musical point of view, Gloria does not enter the Grimley bandroom with an obligato cornet, it's a flugelhorn.

The fact that a woman has entered the band room is important. For a long time, the brass band was the domain of men. Women weren't allowed to play in the bands and indeed, this is still the case today in two of the biggest names in the banding world.

Underpinning all this is the fact that the film is (at least) semi-biographical. The events unfolding in the film mirror in no small way the same events which befell the Grimethorpe pit in 1992, and impacted on the world-famous Grimethorpe Colliery band. Thatcher's Britain did result in the pit closing down, and threatened the band's future. The band did take the stage at the National Final, and so the reason that the band don't turn professional is because there is no room in the banding movement for a professional band.

For a point of information, there are 4 basses in a Brass Band, 2 Eb and 2 Bb (not 2 or 3). Oh yes, and bandsmen most certainly do carry there instruments through the street without a case, especially bass players.

On a slightly different point, Phil does not have a gambling habit. He is still paying off the loan that he took out in 1982 to cover the loss of earnings because "suspended I were. 18 b****** months it took that lot to sort it out. 18 b***** months on strike pay. That's how big a f***** deal it is mate."