• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Donate

The Arts Fuse

Boston's Online Arts Magazine: Dance, Film, Literature, Music, Theater, and more

  • Podcasts
  • Coming Attractions
  • Reviews
  • Short Fuses
  • Interviews
  • Commentary
  • The Arts
    • Performing Arts
      • Dance
      • Music
      • Theater
    • Other
      • Books
      • Film
      • Food
      • Television
      • Visual Arts
You are here: Home / Featured / Fuse Film Review: “Pride” — A Feel-Good Film About the Union Ties That Bind

Fuse Film Review: “Pride” — A Feel-Good Film About the Union Ties That Bind

October 17, 2014 Leave a Comment

Pride is poignant celebration of the power of the human element, a carefully layered tale of solidarity.

Pride directed by Matthew Warchus. Written by Stephen Beresford. At the Kendall Square Cinema, Coolidge Corner Theatre, and other screens around New England.

A scene from "Pride" --
A scene from “Pride.”

By Robert Israel

Some movies make use of a myriad of creative and technical elements to visually and aurally mesmerize us. Other films utilize less assaultive methods to sneak under our skins and then lodge themselves in our minds and memorizes. They may not necessarily be quieter, or less technologically advanced, but they captivate us in by sharing surprising stories of real people that mirror our own struggles and triumphs. Pride is a terrific example of a film that fits into the latter category: it is poignant celebration of the power of the human element.

Pride is crafted as a slowly unfolding, carefully layered tale of empowerment. It dramatizes the consanguineous bonds that develop between two disparate, disparaged groups that unite in a struggle to assert their dignity in a world that callously denies them respect. Based on real events, the film is set in London and Wales during the reign of “Iron Lady” Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. We meet the striking members of the National Union of Mineworkers, an organization that Thatcher is hell-bent on busting, and a ragtag group of gay and lesbian activists, who call a crowded Bloomsbury bookshop their home. It’s the mid-1980s, just before the AIDS crisis began to rage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

The film opens as members of the gay group react to graphic televised images of the striking workers being bruised and battered by truncheon-wielding police. They understand this horrific treatment by the authorities all too well; throughout much of the 20th century homosexuality in the United Kingdom was considered a crime. Police frequently raided bathhouses and pubs, while the general populace looked upon gays as deviants.

So the homosexuals in the group mobilize, take to the streets and, armed with empty wash buckets, aggressively solicit for funds. Their rallying cry of solidarity for the miners works: the shillings and pound notes add up. But how do they get the money to the miners? Every time they reach out to contact the unions via telephone their calls are rudely terminated.

Persistence wins out: they finally connect with a union group in hardscrabble and desolate Wales, many hours and miles away from London. One of their Welsh miners, Dai (Paddy Considine) gratefully accepts their funds and, unfazed by the obvious differences in their lifestyles, agrees to speak publicly and thank them at a gay pub in London. It’s a chilly reception at first, but Dai melts the ice. He invites the members of the group to join him and the other miners in Wales.

The script jostles back and forth between the two locales and the colorful folk who live in both places. We meet Joe (George MacKay), a 20-year-old closeted gay man who sneaks out of his parents’s suburban home to join his mates; Hefina (Imelda Stanton) a plain-speaking volunteer at the Welsh union hall who helps to break down prejudices on both sides; and Cliff (Bill Nighy), a closeted Welsh gay man who finally “comes out” during the course of the film.

There are uproarious scenes of disco dancing at the union hall, sleepovers at the homes of the Welsh families, scuffles and tender embraces, all paced masterfully and beautifully acted throughout the film. If you’re not won over by the Welsh ladies serving white bread sandwiches and pints of bitters while singing union hymns, you’ll be pulled in by the rock-music filled scenes at the gay bar that end up filling the miners’ coffers beyond their expectations.

Ultimately, Pride is a feel-good film about the ties that bind, about human beings overcoming the exaggerated fears generated by perceived differences. There are a number of valuable lessons to be learned from this film, but the principle takeaway is what it teaches us about the solidarity that persecution inspires among the oppressed.


Robert Israel writes about theater, travel and the arts, and is a member of Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE). He can be reached at risrael_97@yahoo.com

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

By: Robert Israel Filed Under: Featured, Film, Review Tagged: homosexuality, labor union, Matthew Warchus, mineworkers, Pride, union

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Popular Posts

  • Dance Commentary: Contract Dispute Between Union Artists and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — ‘Buked and Scorned? The Ailey dancers’ demands around salaries and the leng... posted on June 30, 2022
  • Album Review: The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s “I Am the Moon” — Part Two, “Ascension” The high quality of the material presented thus far jus... posted on June 27, 2022
  • Theater Review: “1776” — Still an Egg in the Theatrical Incubator This revival of 1776 tries to strike a culture wars bal... posted on June 5, 2022
  • Television Review: “Shoresy” — A Spin-off That Falls Short The Canadian sports comedy Shoresy works as its own ser... posted on June 7, 2022
  • Book Review: “Translating Myself and Others” — The Air We Breathe The cumulative effect over the course of Jhumpa Lahiri'... posted on June 15, 2022

Social

Follow us:

Follow the Conversation

  • Jeff Leach July 3, 2022 at 11:49 am on Theater Review: “Common Ground Revisited” – Revivifying HistoryAgreed, and I would extend Mr. Marx's criticism to high school arts departments, which too often turn to popular fare...
  • ReV July 3, 2022 at 11:42 am on Album Review: “Temptations 60” — A Joyful CelebrationHmm. Only thing to say: Evaluating a Temptations record - old or new - shouldn't talk about feminism or women's...
  • Domingo Warner July 3, 2022 at 4:28 am on Opera Album Review: Finally on CD — a Searing ’60s Opera from Russia about the Nazi EraIt's a gripping opera that doesn't let you go if you are an empathetic person. I thought that it is...
  • Scott McLennan July 2, 2022 at 2:22 pm on Dance Commentary: Contract Dispute Between Union Artists and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — ‘Buked and Scorned?Thanks for this. Truly unjust treatment of these artists. I'm not sure I understand why it's disingenuous for the union...
  • Lillian Wexler July 1, 2022 at 6:48 pm on Dance Commentary: Contract Dispute Between Union Artists and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — ‘Buked and Scorned?I have been in dance administrator for over 35 years with both large, leading ballet companies as well as smaller...

Footer

  • About Us
  • Advertising/Underwriting
  • Syndication
  • Media Resources
  • Editors and Contributors

We Are

Boston’s online arts magazine since 2007. Powered by 70+ experts and writers.

Follow Us

Monthly Archives

Categories

"Use the point of your pen, not the feather." -- Jonathan Swift

Copyright © 2022 · The Arts Fuse - All Rights Reserved · Website by Stephanie Franz