timcon1964 This film about "Grimley" and its band is loosely based on the experiences of the miners and musicians of Grimethorpe, a small village in South Yorkshire whose economy was heavily dependent on coal mining. Characters in Brassed Off continue to feel the effects of the 1984 strike that tried and failed to prevent the closure of 20 mines. The bitterness that arose between those who continued to strike and those who returned to work still remains. In the period reflected in this movie (1992), most miners were less militant, and were willing to accept mine closure and severance pay, rather than an assessment of the mine's potential profitability as a private venture. After the mine was closed, Grimethorpe suffered from a loss of jobs and hope. All of this is reflected in the movie.The announcement of the mine's closing came just days before the 1992 National Brass Band competition. The fate of the local band after the mine is closed is the central question posed by the film. The Grimethorpe Colliery Band (which plays all the music heard in the movie) was one of many sponsored by various British communities and industries, and one of just a small handful of these bands that have been perennial contenders for national honors. In the years since 1970, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band has won the National Championships 4 times, the ITV Granada Band of the Year title 6 times, and the UK Brass in Concert Championship 14 times. Its success was partly based on recruitment of such super stars as Alan Morrison (its top cornet player) who was deemed the best lead cornet in Brass in Concert Championships in each of the five years from 1990 to 1994. (Morrison has said that his "only regret in life" is that he left the band too early and thus did not appear in the film.) His successor, Shaun Randall (who plays the cornet solo on the William Tell Overture in the movie) was named best lead cornet in the 1995 Brass Concert Championships. Although the Grimethorpe mine was closed, the Grimethorpe Colliery band has carried on. In November 2017, one organization ranked it the 10th best brass band in the world.Apart from the fate of the band, Brassed Off focuses on the personal situations of a few main characters. Incredibly, the publisher described the movie as a "delightfully entertaining comedy." This is emphatically not a comedy—unless you are inclined to chuckle at families being evicted from their homes, victims of black lung collapsing in the street, or an angry man cursing God in a church. The film stresses the tension between Danny, the band leader who considers music more important than anything, and his trombonist son Phil, who seems likely to lose everything with the closure of the mine. There is also the ambiguous romance between Gloria, who has returned to town in a mysterious role, and her old admirer Andy. Pete Postlewaite (Danny) and Stephen Tompkinson (Phil) are especially convincing. Tompkinson's role is perhaps the most challenging in the movie. Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor effectively portray the on-again, off-again, relationship between Gloria and Andy. (Viewers may recognize "Harry" as Jim Carter who played the butler "Carson" in Downton Abbey.) Although 80 per cent of the miners voted to accept closure of the mine and take severance pay, Brassed Off might lead viewers to sympathize with those who wanted to keep the mine open. But, work in the mines was not an unmixed blessing—like Danny, many miners suffered from various respiratory diseases. The movie blames mine closures on Margaret Thatcher and the Tories. Actually, the reduction in British coal production had been continuous since the 1910s, and cannot be attributed to particular leaders or political parties. The decline of British manufacturing, the development of new home heating technologies, and the switch to cheaper imported coal and to cleaner and renewable forms of energy were contributing factors. But, in a broader perspective, the film relates, not just to miners, but to the plight of all workers who are being rendered "redundant" by modern technology.

OutsideHollywoodLand For any American worker who may be feeling a bit under-appreciated – relax! No one does working-class anger and analysis like our British cousins from across the sea. Brassed Off takes place in Grimley, a small mining village in Worchestershire, England, threatened by the possibility of their mine closing. Tara Fitzgerald plays Gloria Mullen, a surveyor for the Grimley Mining Company, whose job is to create a study that she thinks will keep Grimley open and save jobs. "My figures show Grimley has a future. It's a profitable pit," she tells Andy, her friend, fellow band member, and old flame. Ewan MacGregor, as Andy Barrow, is one hard realist who schools her in the ways of management's shady plans over coffee one night."You're report means as much to them as we do. . . bugger all. . . And those good eggs at the head office think they've done all they can. Oh dear. . . they've been very fair, very reasonable. Done their best, done their sums and - oh dear - they just don't add up! They'll have to close another pit – a shame – and they probably made their decision why you were still in college." Gloria can't understand why Andy will vote to keep the mine open then, if the majority of miners will be voting for "redundancy" - to close the mine and take a buy-out. "No hope – just principles", he replies. Amid the backdrop of this drama, Gloria and Andy's budding relationship suffers a few bumps and bruises along the way. A few of the more vocal Grimley Colliery Brass Band members accuse Andy of being a scab and Gloria a management sellout until almost the bitter end. The film intersperses strike scenes and family crisis's with rousing band numbers, as they practice for a musical competition. The late – and great – Peter Postlethwaite, portrays Danny, the orchestra's leader – in good times and bad. The musical numbers represent the spirit of the town as the villagers grapple with their pressure and problems. He encourages the band members to keep going, no matter what, even if it means the further deterioration of his own poor health. Danny believes that the band can win fist prize, which symbolizes their collective spirit - undaunted and unbowed.During her viability study report to management, Gloria discovers that Andy's predictions are all-too accurate, right down to the timing of their decision to close Grimley. Gloria discovers that she too has principles and resigns her cushy position, which ultimately enables the band to travel to the band finals at Albert Hall. The band plays on, all the way to Albert Hall, even though many of the members are cynical and demoralized, knowing that their lives will be forever changed as a result of management's callous actions. And although Grimley closes, Danny and Gloria are able to rally the Grimley Brass Banders to play their hearts out in London at the National Band Competition, winning first place. Danny: ". . .over the last ten years, this bloody government has systematically destroyed an entire industry. OUR industry. And not just our industry - our communities, our homes, our lives. All in the name of "progress". And for a few lousy bob. I'll tell you something else you might not know, as well. A fortnight ago, this band's pit were closed - another thousand men lost their jobs. And that's not all they lost. Most of them lost the will to win a while ago. A few of them even lost the will to fight. But when it comes to losing the will to live, to breathe, the point is - if this lot were seals or whales, you'd all be up in bloody arms. But their not, are they, no, no they're not. They're just ordinary common-or-garden honest, decent human beings. And not one of them with an ounce of bloody hope left. Oh aye, they can knock out a bloody good tune. But what the f*#k does that matter? And now I'm going to take my boys out onto the town. Thank you." See what I mean?

Don Tyler Brassed Off is a British film about the troubles of a colliery brass band when the coal mines that sponsored the band was forced to close by the government in 1992, the same week the Grimethorpe Colliery Band won the National Brass Band Championship. The closures killed the coal industry in England and forced many miners out of their jobs. "Brassed off" is a British slang expression that means dejected, fed up, upset, which is what the coal miners were when they were forced into retirement, into joblessness, and some even into suicide when the government closed the mines. Between 1990 and 1997, the party in control of the British government was the Conservatives, who were led by John Major, although the film calls them Tories or the Tory party. When the government decided to replace coal with nuclear power as a source of fuel, approximately 140 coal pits, representing more than 200,000 miners' jobs, were deemed redundant. The government offered the workers "redundancy" – forced retirement with severance pay. The film is set in Grimley, a fictitious town that represents the village of Grimethorpe in South Yorkshire, in the early 1990s. In the late 1970s, the European Union named Grimethorpe the poorest village in Britain. The village, however, is still fiercely proud of their brass band that has been in existence since 1881. The film has been criticized by some as a poor imitation of the Yorkshire dialect and accent, but most American audiences wouldn't know the difference. If you like brass band music, you'll enjoy Brassed Off and you'll learn some history about the British government closing the coal mines at the same time (something the U.S. may be forced to do in the not-too-distant future if the environmentalists have their way).

raebari Having rented a piece of c--p titled "Little Miss Sunshine" last week,I have given up on paying for what Hollywood deems quality filming. So I was surfing the movie channels, came across "Brassed Off," and what hooked this former USA marching band member was the gloriously rich music that accompanied the film's action. Everything politically important has been said on the previous 12 pages of this IMDb commentary, particularly about Thatcher, Reagan (and now Bush) and that ilk, who put profit above all and people last. This film, yes, does belong in the "full monty" category, but even more, it falls into the "Drum Line" category as well--the power that music has to lift people above their ordinary lives and to help them realize the depth of their humanity. This film, like "Drum Line," is an education in itself about musical traditions that millions are ignorant of. I was stunned at the richness of sound produced by a colliery band--no woodwinds to thin out the total effect.The film also has echoes of "How Green Was My Valley," a film made in the 40's and set in Welsh coal-mining country, where male choral groups meet weekly and also compete in an annual national contest.In addition, as an American tourist in Yorkshire, I loved the literary aspect of that area--Bronte country, if you will--being an English teacher, but this film was a cold slap in the face concerning the reality of the fate of men and women upon whose backs and blood the nation was enriched, and who are discarded, like rusty tools, when "conservative" economics trumpet the importance of "investors" over the fate of the workers in the industry. Yes, as one commentator pointed out, coal has no future in the 21st century, but short-sightedness and greed have ignored the need for other energy solutions that could have saved those Yorkshire communities and families, and which just might make the planet inhabitable for our grandchildren--if we don't continue to be stupid.