This is British Cinema at its very best and has been my favourite film of all time since I first saw it on the big screen. I cannot think of two more powerful performances committed to celluloid than those of Peter Postlethwaite and Stephen Tompkinson. There is so much emotion in "Brassed Off" that anyone who fails to be moved must have a heart of stone...if indeed they have a heart at all. People I know (or reviews I have read) that didn't like the film have criticised the intense political messages within it, but in my opinion these folk are missing the point entirely. It's true that there is a fierce undercurrent of anti right wing leaning running through the movie, but to portray the characters any other way would be factually inaccurate. Some may view Thatcher as a Saint, but characters like those in Brassed Off can only ever view her as an evil tyrant. Anyway I'm going off on a tangent now. My point is this: Brassed Off is a very humane picture that paints a picture of early eighties folk who have been robbed of their livelihood, yet still manages to be funny, charming, heartwarming, heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. A truly wonderful film.
Review of Brassed Off
