Change of Plans: Brassed Off!

Folks,

I was having trouble finding those documentaries I mentioned in class, so instead we’re going to be watching the TV film Brassed Off, which is set in England. There is a subtitle file for you, but some of the dialect might be a little hard to understand… the Internet is your friend.

You can find the film in the usual place.

I expect some discussion of this film via mailing list before our class on Tuesday! It’s a political film, as well as a drama about community; it’s about history, but it’s also about the present day of England (when the film was made over a decade ago now). It’s also about music, and about courage.

I look forward to discussing all your questions, ideas, and observations. But I strongly, strongly urge you to do some research after you have watched the film about the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of England, and about the coal mine closures in England in that time.

It may surprise you to hear that England, like Korea, had to get “help” from the IMF not so long ago… but I’ll let you research the rest. Though it isn’t balanced, this account is pretty honest, and probably matches what a lot of the coal miners thought. (Those who followed politics, anyway.)

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