A Bunch of Amateurs

This film was shown on BBC iPlayer under its Storyville banner which is usually the sign that you are about to watch a well crafted, thoughtful and perhaps offbeat documentary. This ticks all those boxes and presents a real life story about the often overlooked need for artistic expression present in working class men and women.

A Bunch of Amateurs also tells a poignant story about our neoliberal age and the general loss of social capital. Behind the sometimes bizarre movies and minuted AGMs is the quiet struggle of a aging group of amateur filmakers to keep their club going - if only as a place to meet friends - in the face of mounting unpaid bills and an indifferent wider public. Like many clubs and societies, this club, formed in 1932, is a relic of another age and its heyday has long since past. There is the fear throughout the documentary that the club shares its destiny with its elderly former president, Colin - that both are frail and in the latter years of their lives.

It's often said that the root of the English word 'amateur' is in the Latin for 'love', meaning that the word refers to people doing something out of love. It isn't, at it's heart, a derogatory term but one of affirmation. That's the sense in which this beautifully made documentary means it as it follows a small amateur film-makers' club in the north of England as its mainly older members fight for the club's survival. It's a film for which the term 'heart-warming' could have been invented, a humane hymn to doing things for the love of the thing itself and for the sake of the people you do it with. In the film's closing minutes, COVID hits and you fear the worst for the club and its members - but it brings with it an unexpected twist which feels like an affirmation of all that's good and worthwhile in a world that so often feels cruel and dark. A perfect film for me to watch whilst Trump was sworn in for his second Presidency of the USA.

This was absolutely brilliant. The enthusiasm, love and a shared joy of cinema is only the start of it. What price a box of biscuits? What price daring to dream the impossible dream? Humanity: this lot is a credit to you. There may not be an Oscar for the winning .. although I wouldn't put it past them, but the sheer joy of fellowship and friendship is there for all to see. The landscape is quite familiar to me ... Bradford/ Dublin, the same, not a bit of difference. And seeing a man wanting to recreate the opening scene of Oklahoma, even though he can't ride a horse or sing, was a joy to behold. And he done none of those things, but it worked magnificently. A beautiful morning indeed.

Had the privilege of attending the premiere of this wonderful film and meeting the cast/filmmakers. It brought me to tears, made me laugh hysterically & warmed my heart so much. Beautiful and truly full of passion for film. Colin and Harry are the stand out participants showing the real hardships of life alongside the true joy that a small club can bring. The family feel and the unity of a group coming together (even virtually throughout a pandemic) and supporting one another through bereavements, injuries and the harsh realities of poverty, caring for relatives & loneliness is felt more strongly here than I have ever seen, and it is real. I adored this film.

Is there indeed a purpose in a bunch of Bradford misfits with minimal equipment, little acting ability and less money - without, for that matter, much sign of any real cinematic sense - remaking Oklahoma? That's the profound existential question at the heart of this real-life version of Detectorists, a film which is fun, warm-hearted but also with a strange pathos. And, surprisingly, you may come away feeling that the answer is 'yes'.

The one thing I would say is that it maybe would have been better as a series: an hour and a half of it is a lot to watch in one go (as it would be for the fictional version).