Brassed Off is approaching its 30th anniversary
Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald in Brassed Off(Image: Channel 4)
When you look back at Yorkshire’s mining history, especially the later decades, amusement probably isn’t the first emotion that comes to mind.
But when it comes to Yorkshire folk, humour is one of the ways people across this region deal with hardship, so it’s fitting in a way. And when you take that into account, Brassed Off makes perfect sense.
A black comedy, released in 1996, the film tackles the economic deprivation facing the town of ‘Grimley’ – a clear stand in for Grimethorpe in Barnsley – as the coal mining pit in the town faces closure. Set ten years on from the miner’s strikes in the 1980s, the miners know which way the wind is blowing – their pit doesn’t have long left.
As in many parts of the country, the ‘Grimley Colliery’ has its own brass band, led by Danny Ormondroyd, played by the late, great Pete Poslethwaite, the year before he starred in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park sequel.
A young Ewan McGregor plays another miner and band member, Andy Barrow, while faces from across British film and TV make up the rest of the band, such as Steve Tompkinson as Danny’s son Phil, and Jim Carter as band member Harry. With the pit facing closure, the band also faces its end, despite Danny’s protestations.
Pete Postlethwaite in Brassed Off(Image: Channel 4)
However, when the daughter of a former band member shows up and asks to join, Gloria Mullins, played by Tara Fitzgerald, the band is reinvigorated. The miners struggle to balance the band, their personal lives unravelling with the collapse of the mining industry, and the loss of their jobs and identity throughout the film, leading towards one big performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
There, Danny, despite being very ill after a lifetime down the mines, refuses the trophy he has dreamed of for so long, while blasting the country and government for abandoning the miners.
It’s part comedy, part serious drama, and part polemic, but manages to balance all its elements well to deliver a scathing critique of how parts of Yorkshire were left behind by the closure of the pits.
Despite all this, Brassed Off is still very funny. It’s a dry and very Yorkshire sort of humour, but there’s plenty of fun to be had watching the miners get drunk instead of performing, or watching Phil’s trombone continually fall apart.
It is also very dark in places, as Phil’s life begins to unravel and he attempts to take his own life, only to end up being comforted by his seriously ill dad in hospital. Meanwhile Gloria is revealed as working for management as a surveyor, which prompts accusations of her working against the miners, while she insists her report matters, and could keep the mine open.
The miners know the truth though, and eventually, Gloria figures it out too.
Yorkshire director Mark Herman shoots the film beautifully, and he really manages to capture 1990s Yorkshire. Despite the litter and the deprivation, Grimethorpe and Barnsley look fantastic on film, and, for those who remember these places as they were, it’s a great way to look back on what those places were like, as much of the film was shot on location.
The other highlight of the film is the music. While ‘Grimley Colliery Band’ is not real, Grimethorpe Colliery Band is and they performed the soundtrack for the film. Beautiful renditions of Danny Boy and the William Tell Overture populate the fantastic brass soundtrack, and the final rendition of Land of Hope and Glory is wonderful in its haunting irony as they play it passing by the Houses of Parliament.
Jim Carter channelling Tom Hulce in Amadeus at the final performance in the Royal Albert Hall is fantastic, and deeply entertaining as well.
Now 30-years-later, the pits have closed everywhere, and the memory of them is growing ever more distant. Grimethorpe Colliery closed down in 1993, years before the film was released and beyond the memory of many people. As Danny says in Brassed Off, the band may be the only memory of the colliery one day.
Now, at least, Brassed Off can be added to that memory, so we never forget where communities like Grimethorpe came from, or the people who built these towns. People are what matter, after all.
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