This article contains spoilers forBrassed OffandThe Full Monty.
If this lot were seals or whales, youd all be up in bloody arms.
But theyre not, are they?
No, no theyre not.
Theyre just ordinary common-or-garden honest, decent human beings.
And not one of them with an ounce of bloody hope left.
Take, for instance,The Full Monty.
But that it doesnt neglect why theyve been pushed to do it.
And further examples include the likes ofBilly Elliot,East Is Eastand the more recentSing Street.
Not for nothing are films like these amongst the best comedy movies of the last couple of decades.
But I thinkBrassed Offis the best of the lot.
Which is what he duly did.
Even then, though, Herman was conscious of writing some dreary political polemic.
Still, he secured finance.
The same sentence could, of course, also apply to the aforementionedThe Full Montythere.
The film makes that point very keenly.
But Im a little ahead of myself, becauseBrassed Offisnt just about the miners, and the band.
Its about the details, the human beings, the communities, and the divisions therein.
His story quickly centres on Danny Ormondroyd, conductor and overseer of the colliery band.
The band is Dannys life, and has been for decades.
And Danny is played by Pete Postlethwaite.
I need, therefore, to declare my cards here.
The late Pete Postlethwaite was and is one of my favourite actors of all time.
In the 90s in particular, barely a month went by without him appearing in a new film.
Such a great mix, too.
I saw him on stage once too, in a not-great production ofMacbeth.
Yet heck: he was outstanding.
Nobody working in the theatre during the shows run had a bad word to say about the man.
Danny Ormondroyd, for me, is Postlethwaites best performance, and his best character.
Danny is the one who stands for the history of the colliery here, and the band.
Hes done his years down the mine, and is paying health consequences as a result of that.
The second outstanding performance you get inBrassed Offcomes from Stephen Tomkinson, as Dannys son, Phil.
Not that Danny sees that.
Even to the expense of seeing just how much trouble his son is in.
Its not that he doesnt see whats going on, rather he doesnt really recognise it.
He simply cant compute it, we realise.
The clues to this are laid early on.
AndBrassed Offis full of small touches like that, that really make the film matter.
Theres a real sense that the screenplay here was fine-tuned and focused before Herman unpacked his cameras.
Hes got quite a broad ensemble here, but even nominally supporting players have pivotal parts to play.
Not in a massively demonstrative way, but again, just through a small, non-showy gesture.
She gets a few corking one-liners, too.
Those moments are the only ones inBrassed OffI can live without.
Bizarrely,Brassed Offwas actually sold as a romantic comedy (!)
They have a surprise reunion which turns their live hilariously upsi… no, not at all.
In fact, theyre a surprisingly smaller part of theBrassed Offjigsaw.
For theirs isnt the key relationship in the film.
Ultimately, that honour falls to father and son, to Danny and Phil.
Before I get to them again, I need to talk about the moment the film really turns.
We get mournful scenes of miners, having overwhelming voted to accept redundancy, traipsing out of the pit.
The band has never been more successful, The ecosystem around it never more in despair.
The protests are gone, the battle lost.
And then Danny collapses.
And then theres the heart-breaking shot.
Hermans close-up on Tompkinsons tear-stained face, arguably the character whose family has lost the most, is perfect.
How much else can Phil be expected to lose?
Be in no doubt:Brassed Offwas and is a hard, hard film at its centre.
No matter how much a lot, as it happens its able to make people laugh.
And Id argue that its the relationship between Danny and Phil that really elevates it to something extra-special.
If youve not had the pleasure, though, its truly something.
The standalone CD, with added music from Trevor Jones, is a treat in its own right.
But the music in the context of the film?
Its pretty much unbeatable.
Actually, thats not strictly true, because you’re free to always hear it live.
