Brassed Off
Brassed Off

Clockwise: Pete Postlethwaite, Stephen Tompkinson, Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald
The main cast of Brassed Off

Brassed Off tells the story of a group of miners in Yorkshire in 1994, ten years after the miner's strike. The miiners are faced with the closure of their pit and the knowledge that if it closes, the whole community will be left penniless. It sounds very bleak, but the storyline doesn't end there. As a sideline, these miners all play in the Grimley Colliery Brass Band. The band leader, Danny Ormondroyd is obsessed with getting them through to the finals at the Albert Hall, but his biggest hurdle of all is getting the men to put aside their problems with the pit and concentrate on the music.

Each of the miners has their own story to tell, but of course the one I'm most concerned with is that of the band leader's son, Phil Ormondroyd, played by Steve. Phil was imprisoned in 1984 and when released and fighting to get his job back, he borrowed money from a couple of loan sharks who now want their money. Bit by bit, Phil's world falls apart. His wife leaves him and takes their children, his father is rushed to hospital and his furniture is repossessed. Finally, he decides that there is nothing left for him and he tries to kill himself.

As with most British films, this is a wonderfully poignant and funny film with characters you can believe in - you want to know what happens to all of them and, of course, there is a happy ending.