Brassed Off **** (1996, Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, Ewan McGregor) – Classic Movie Review 425

Writer-director Mark Herman’s 1996 British comedy drama is thoughtful and amusing and was deservedly highly popular. It follows the fortunes of a Yorkshire colliery brass band as its members struggle for both musical and personal survival at a time when the future for village and band looks bleak.

The miners’ Grimley Colliery Brass band is 100 years old, in existence as long as the mine. But the coal mine may be closing, which could mean the end of the band too. The brassed-off, despondent miners are squabbling over whether to fight to keep the pit open, but, whatever happens, the bandleader wants them to carry on competing in the national competition in London. Friction is everywhere but the arrival of flugelhorn player Gloria seems like a breath of fresh air.

Brassed Off is poignantly set in 1992 against the wave of pit closures that was devastating northern English coal mining communities. The film’s a thoroughly enjoyable and involving experience, even if the political message is thumped home without finesse, and the soppy ending at the Albert Hall in London is as predictable as it is improbable. There’s a touch of the old TV show Dad’s Army about it, and that’s a good thing obviously.

In one of his best and most fondly remembered roles, Pete Postlethwaite is the film’s crowning glory as the bandmaster Danny.

Young leads Ewan McGregor (as Andy) and Tara Fitzgerald (as Gloria, the lovely, sole bandswoman all the blokes lust after) seem mainly ornamental in a pretty good cast (Stephen Tompkinson, Jim Carter, Philip Jackson, Peter Martin, Mary Healey, Sue Johnston and Ronnie Stevens as Albert Hall Judge). McGregor struggles with his Yorkshire accent but Fitzgerald at least looks as though she can play her instrument.

The music is played by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. In the UK, the film prompted interest in brass band music, with the CD soundtrack selling 50,000 copies.

Mark Herman’s next hit was Little Voice (1998).

Pete Postlethwaite died of cancer on January 2 2011, aged 64.

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© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 425

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