Review of Brassed Off (1996) by Rob R — 21 Mar 2008

I've never really got into Joy Division, but I fully appreciate their way of communicating the desperation of 80s Manchester (I think I've seen more Joy Division documentaries than heard their albums, so this is what I'm going on).

Well, without liking Joy Division's music, I reckon this is the best way I can really dig the desperation and wretchedness of Thatcher's North. No Joy Division song ever made me weep from start to finish and no Joy Division song ever lasted 100 minutes.

I don't think they ever tried trombones either. That said, to make a film so heart wrenchingly depressing right from the way go is pretty hardcore. I doubt the Full Monty and Billy Elliot spell disaster from frame one, but I guess I'll never know - this one has Brass Band music in.

Sidepoint - is orange juice always played this fast? I'm so used to the guitar and Miles Davis versions that it seemed like a Slipknot version... Sidepoint, no trombone I've ever seen has broken like that.

.. Sidepoint, shouldn't he have been playing the trombone part I heard when he first sees his dad at the Albert Hall?... sidepoint, that was far to small to be a(n) euphonium case, surely! Oh and the picture I'm seeing right now of Tara Fotzgerald cheerfully elbowing Ewan McGregor is a bit misleading.

Bit like if Schindler's List had a picture of Hitler pulling Liam Neeson's leg.