Pride - CONTAINS SPOILERS

[weekender]

I WAS WRITING A REVIEW

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of sorts

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AND THEN I REALISED I'D NOT DONE THE

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Spoiler

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THING SO I HAVE NOW PUT A DESCRIPTION IN THE TITLE.  IF YOU HAVE CLICKED ON THIS THREAD AND DON'T WANT TO READ SPOILERS YOU SHOULD CLICK OFF.  Sorry.









Before I watched this film, I had heard of the miners' strikes in the early 1980s.  I had also heard of lesbians and gays.

I hadn't, however, heard of the time when some lesbians and gays decided to support the miner's strikes, which is basically what this film is about.

It sounds like a fairly tenuous premise but apparently it happened and so this film decided to tell the story.

You may have seen some adverts recently about the film, putting it in the same sort of 'fun British' films such as Billy Elliott, The Full Monty and Brassed Off.  I can see where they're going with the advertising, but I have a certain reluctance to subscribe to that school of thought.

I will touch on some of my concerns about the film below, but my above reluctance is that I simply thought that 'Pride' was a much, much better film.

The first thing that I want to note is that the overall 'tone' of the film is of general observation.  This is a brilliant approach - irrespective of what you think of gays/miners/lesbians, the film tries to treat everyone equally and merely tries to explain everyone's point of view.

But, by far and away, the best thing about this film is the performances.  I can't think of anyone who doesn't give an absolute blast of a performance, irrespective of what 'side' they're on.  Paddy Considine is probably my favourite performance in hindsight, as he thoughtfully bridges the gaps between cultures.  This again, as I type, leads me to another point.  It's not necessarily a gap between cultures in terms of "the miners and the gays", there's also a culture gap representative of the 1980s under Thatcher and her view of the 'underclass'. 

It's not a perfect film.  My personal concern, having read about what happened - and also having sat next to someone who at a particular moment was expecting far more than was portrayed on screen - was that some of the actual violence was underplayed or even discarded.  Both the miners and the lesbians/gays didn't seem to suffer enough as I think they actually did at the time.  I suppose if you were making such a film you'd probably want to downplay such things to appeal to a wider audience, but my understanding of life is that the parties concerned probably suffered a bit more violence-wise.

I have a few other minor criticisms - would several coach-loads of miners at a Pride festival in London really be as unexpected as suggested? - but they don't detract from my overall enjoyment of the film.

Basically, it's an interesting story with interesting characters that is extremely well told.  I haven't even touched on the humour.

Ultimately, I can't think of a film I have enjoyed more this year.  It's up there in the 95% range for me.

[DukeDeMondo]

I saw this on Saturday night and absolutely loved it. The face that was on me was sore from the smiling and the blubbing by the end, and when that incredibly beautiful mix of There is Power In A Union came on, I thought the both of the edges of my lips were goin to have to be picked out the ceiling with a fork.

Both the miners and the lesbians/gays didn't seem to suffer enough as I think they actually did at the time.  I suppose if you were making such a film you'd probably want to downplay such things to appeal to a wider audience, but my understanding of life is that the parties concerned probably suffered a bit more violence-wise.

This I don't agree with, although I understand where you're coming from. I don't think Pride baulked at that at all, and in fact went to great lengths to detail the varieties of hatred and spite and brutality thrust upon them from all kinds of directions - quoting the tabloid editorials at length, for example. That it didn't present a string of harrowing scenes in the final third made it a much better film, far as I'm concerned. For fuck knows how long, the idea that any gay or LGBT-themed story that might have any chance of breaking into the mainstream must make its characters suffer hugely at some point has run rampant, and is on evidence in everything from Priest through Boys Don't Cry and Brokeback and beyond. Implicit in that is the notion that "they're" ok so long as they're tortured for what their doing, either by themselves or by someone else, and fuck that, frankly.

Pride is by no means perfect, but it is fucking wonderful, and Bill Nighy's performance has had me laughing the last sweated tit out myself for the whole of the hours and the days since.

[falafel]

Yes, this is brilliant. Deserves a massive audience.

[Bored of Canada]

Only arrived at select cinemas here in the last couple weeks. Just got back from it now.

If you see the trailer, or even the marketing material, you'll be able to guess all the beats of the film. The plot isn't surprising or anything, but despite all that, no matter how cynical you are, and I am VERY cynical, you'll still get swept up in it and want to cheer at times. You won't be able to fight it.

It's just an infectiously inspiring and sweeping tale.

It's a predictable kind of inspiring, swelling story, but it's a story that needs to be told and it's a really fun ride. And I think the thematic premise is really bloody worthy, in trying to say something honest about how we should conduct ourselves in the world. It's a film about human rights, and the power of community. It's a film that offers simple answers on how the world can be a better place, and how we can be better people.

Brilliant cast too. There's so many characters and they're trying their best to not let it get too heavy so on the page, the characters aren't too deep, but the cast bring such an enthusiasm and charisma to them. No-one's half arsing anything.

Just needed Eddie Marsan, Sean Harris and Toby Jones, and it'd be full of all of the Britain's best character actors.

It's just a fucking lovely film. Also, all of one side of my family are all just Welsh coal-miners for generations, and I have been half-arsedly planning my UK, Ireland and Europe trip, but it's re-enforced my decision to go to Wales for that.