from Channel Four Films / Miramax
Directed by
Mark Herman
Starring
Pete Postlethwaite (Danny)
Tara Fitzgerald (Gloria)
Ewan McGregor (Andy)
Stephen Tompkinson (Phil)
Jim Carter (Harry)
Philip Jackson (Jim)
Peter Martin (Ernie)
Sue Johnston (Vera)
Mary Healey (Ida)
Melanie Hill (Sandra)
Lill Roughley (Rita)
Peter Gunn (Simmo)
Stephen Moore (Mackenzie)
Ken Colley (Greasley)
Olga Grahame (Mrs. Foggan)
Toni Galacki (Gary)
Sky Ingram (Kylie)
Luke McGann (Shane)
Christopher Tetlow (Craig)
Bernard Wrigley (Chapman)
Ken Kitson (Heavy)
Adrian Hood (Heavy)
Sally Adams (Ward Sister)
Tubby Andrews (Bus Driver)
Katherine Dow Blyton (Nurse)
Adam Fogerty (Miner)
Vanessa Knox-Mawer (2nd Mother)
Sally Ann Matthews (Waitress)
Jacqueline Naylor (1st Mother)
Bob Rodgers (Halifax Judge)
Max Smith (Nightwatchman)
Ronnie Stevens (Albert Hall Judge)
Peter Wallis (Elderly Man)
Irene Skillington (Passing Nurse)
Grimley Colliery Band:
Robert Archer
Andrew Armstrong
David Arnold
Mark Arnold
David Barraclough
Jonathan Beatty
Roy Bowater
Colin Brook
Duncan Byers
Malcolm Clegg
Paul Davies
David Essex
Charles Faulkner
Andrew Hirst
Alan Hobbins
Cliff Hopes
Paul Hughes
Michael Kennedy
Paul McDonald
Stephen Peacock
Shaun Randall
Jim Shepherd
Robin Taylor
Simon Willis
Written by
Mark Herman
Original music by
Trevor
Jones
Rated: 
|
 Take
The Full Monty, add a sharper emotional edge, and replace the
strutting strippers with a dignified British band. That's the
essence of Brassed Off, a bittersweet gem released in 1996, a
year before its more popular (and Oscar-nominated) counterpart.
In the Yorkshire town of Grimley, there has always been a coal
mine, just as for the last 111 years there has been a brass band,
and it seems that Danny (the wondrous Pete Postlethwaite) has
been the director for every one of those years. Tory economic
policies, however, are closing coal mines around the country
in favor of nuclear power, and Grimley appears to be next on
the list. Danny is unfazed by the threat, claiming, "It's
music that matters." But some of the men are about to quit
the band until the appearance of Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald at her
most radiant), who dazzles the all-male group (including old
flame Andy, played by Ewan McGregor) first with her beauty, then
with her flügelhorn playing. The new member gives the band
a boost as they continue to perform and compete, but closure
remains very real, as director Mark Herman (Little Voice) accompanies
the band's performances (played with gusto by the Grimethorpe
Colliery Band) with scenes of angry labor-management confrontations
and family strife. In this context, some of the characters claim
that the music is an irresponsible form of escapism. It becomes
clear, however, from a touching performance of "Danny Boy"
to the stirring conclusion at Royal Albert Hall, that music is
an expression of the human spirit, a bit of beauty and sanity
in a harsh world. With defiance, the band can play "Land
of Hope and Glory," even when the land offers them neither.
--David Horiuchi
Brassed
Off (VHS Tape)
Brassed
Off (DVD)
Brassed
Off [CD]
Original Soundtrack
Ewan
McGregor: The Unauthorized Biography
by Billy Adams
Ewan
McGregor
by Brian Pendreigh
Brass
Roots: A Hundred Years of Brass Bands and Their Music (1836-1936)
by Roy Newsome
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