Made in Dagenham

Well today saw the first (and perhaps last, if no-one likes it) of my reviews appear in the Doncaster Free Press, as part of a readers’ reviews section. I responded to an appeal for contributors a few weeks back, and this is the result – my review of the film, Made in Dagenham. It’s not available online so here’s the proof:

And what the heck, here’s what I wrote – it’s not exactly up to the Mark Kermode standard, but apart from a couple of attempts on this here blog, it’s my first attempt, so go easy.

Made in Dagenham, set in 1968, tells the true story of a group of female machinists working for Ford in their Dagenham plant, and their battle to achieve equal pay to their male counterparts. An excellent Sally Hawkins leads the line as the women resort to industrial action that would change women’s employment rights throughout the world. Bob Hoskins gives as reliable a performance as ever in the role of the union shop steward, one of only a handful of men throughout the film to support the women. The supporting cast is outstanding, especially Rosamund Pike in a pivotal role, and the tremendous Miranda Richardson as Barbara Castle, the Secretary of State for Employment. The only misfire is Andrew Lincoln playing an arrogant teacher in an unconvincing plotline which appears tacked on in order to service the plot.

Made in Dagenham continues a tradition in British cinema of depicting a community uniting against adversity; think of the unemployed steel workers in The Full Monty or the miners’ band in Brassed Off. Here, Nigel Cole constructs a film just as engaging as these aforementioned films, and one that outshines Calendar Girls, his previous entry into this oeuvre. He skilfully injects entertainment into what could be a dry subject and whilst a criticism of the film may be that it is a slightly glossy version of events and is at times in danger of descending to cliché, this is perhaps understandable in order to gain a mainstream audience for this very important story. Be warned however - it’s not all smooth sailing as the strain of the strike begins to toll on the workers and their families, and as well as laughs, there will also be tears before the final credits roll.

And that’s that. It was fairly heavily edited, and there wasn’t enough room to say all I wanted to about the film in only 300 words – my first attempt came in at double that amount. It probably won’t lead to anything, but it was nice to be able to write with a purpose in mind, knowing there was a good chance of it getting published. I think I need that motivation, as you can probably tell if you’ve noticed the absence of posts on this blog over the last couple of months.

Incidentally, I also appeared on the letters page having asked to write about what made me proud about Doncaster. That was more difficult, thought I eventually came up with a couple of paragraphs. Sadly the way it was cut down makes me seem a bit of a loon and the humour in it has disappeared. It’s amazing how you can completely change the tone of a piece of writing, simply through the editing of it. Lesson learned, and maybe that’s a subject for another day.