Go See Pride

October 19th, 2014

When lesbians and gays helped out the coal miners

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

You should know, by now, that if a movie stars Bill Nighy, I’m going to have something to say about it. Although Nighy takes a backseat in Pride, his role is fun, perfect and integral to the story.

But this isn’t about Bill Nighy.

This is a movie — based on an extraordinary reality — about a time in 1984/1985 when a small group of lesbian and gay Brits chose to help out Welsh coal miners who were on strike. I couldn’t believe it was a true story; subsequent research showed me it was. Part of the movie was even filmed in the same small town in Wales where the events of the 1980s originally took place.

“Mining communities are being bullied, just like we are,” says one of the lead characters. In truth, both parties shared three common foes; the police, the Thatcher government and the tabloid press. Even so, it seems remarkable that LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) jumped in to help back then.

“We’ve been through some of the same things you’ve been through,” is the common theme.

But shared experiences and shared goals don’t necessarily make for harmonious relationships. Tensions ran throughout the movie. There was tension not only between the coal miners, their families and the Brits trying to help them, but also interpersonal tension and humor between all the different factions involved.

There’s something for everybody in the film. If you like humor you’ll find plenty of it. If you like 80s music, sure, there’s a great sound track. Dancing, check. Your favorite British stars? How about Moriarty from Sherlock (Andrew Scott). How about Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter (Imelda Staunton). There’s Richard Burton from Burton and Taylor (Dominic West). If you saw The Book Thief, Ben Schnetzer plays that German-Jewish prisoner that’s hidden in the basement. He’s really an American and in Pride, plays an Irishman living in London. That’s some impressive range. And as always, there’s the incomparable Bill Nighy.

If you need to categorize movies, think of this one as Kinky Boots meets Billy Elliott. Those two movies were eventually made into very successful plays. Pride’s director, Matthew Warchus also directed the stage version of Matilda. I’m not really a gambling guy, but you can bet people are already talking about bringing Pride to the West End or Broadway.

I was lucky enough to see this a few weeks early, while visiting my daughter in Ireland. Skye has always been an advocate for LGBT causes, including helping get the Troy, Michigan mayor kicked out of office for her homophobic remarks. During the movie, we laughed a lot and, yes, cried too. Mine were mostly tears of joy during the closing sequences and subsequent credits.

By the way, there is absolutely no reason for this film to be rated R. Reviewers and activists speculate that the Motion Picture Association of America is a bit homophobic itself.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year and will undoubtedly make my year-end list. As I said in the title, go see Pride.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply