The Navigators (2001)

Five Yorkshiremen try to survive after the British Rail is bought out by a private company.

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Rob Dawber

Stars:

Dean Andrews, Thomas Craig, Joe Duttine

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean Andrews	...	John
Thomas Craig	...	Mick (as Tom Craig)
Joe Duttine	...	Paul
Steve Huison	...	Jim
Venn Tracey	...	Gerry
Andy Swallow	...	Len
Sean Glenn	...	Harpic
Charlie Brown	...	Jack
Juliet Bates	...	Fiona
John Aston	...	Bill Walters
Graham Heptinstall	...	Owen
Angela Forrest	...	Tracy (as Angela Saville)
Clare McSwain	...	Lisa
Megan Topham	...	Chloe
Abigail Pearson	...	Eve

Storyline

In South Yorkshire, a small group of railway maintenance men discover that because of privatization, their lives will never be the same. When the trusty British Rail sign is replaced by one reading East Midland Infrastructure, it is clear that there will be the inevitable winners and losers as downsizing and efficiency become the new buzzwords. A cheery camaraderie is soon replaced by uncertainty and turmoil when their depot manager fills them in on the details of the new arrangement. Privatization means that the customer now comes first, something that is instilled into the men in new training sessions. But there are inconsistencies and shortsightedness to the new ways. Men used to working together now find themselves belonging to different, competing companies. Some even have to tender for their old jobs. Others decide to take the redundancy packages offered by the firm. As always, corners are cut in the interest of lowering costs, leading to a series of misadventures.

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Plot Keywords:

privatization | railway | kitchen sink realism | three legged dog

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site (French)

Country:

UK Germany Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 2002 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Geschichten von den Gleisen

Filming Locations:

Loughborough Great Central Station, Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,940 (USA) (21 February 2003)

Gross:

$1,940 (USA) (21 February 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alta Films, Parallax Pictures, Road Movies Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The vest that John wears in the beginning (with the meter) and end (their last job), is actually a British Rail safety vest, over his Gilchrist coat (when he moves you can see the gray on it). He has the combination on before the company is renamed Gilchrist Engineering.

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Quotes

Gerry: [Already arguing] 'Elf' and Safety.
Harpic: What do you mean, Health and Safety.
Gerry: Health and Safety.
Harpic: Yeah well what about health and safety.
Gerry: That clock...
Harpic: [trying to cut off] Gerry.
Gerry: -shouldn't be in here; this is our mess room.
Harpic: [raising voice] But, that clock is not a health and safety issue.

User Reviews

workers are going to be variable costs

Saying frankly, I did not enjoy, nor being moved by the movie. The story is neither dramatic nor exciting. The lead character is not well defined and thus easy to confuse the audience. After watching it, being little bit disappointed, I went out to walk my dog, but the movie occupied my thought even after I came home. This is a story in railway workers in the UK, however I could see similar situation in Japan too. In Japan, many companies are gradually recovering from serious downfall. But during the process of profit recovery, companies have replaced fixed-cost employees by variable cost contract workers. As a result, the lifetime employment system has collapsed, and the power of the unions, the members of which are employees only, have been eroding. At the same time, number of contract workers, who do not have systematic training and skills building, has increased. In this trend the gap between peoples of high wages and low wages are becoming wider. British society has been many years the forerunner in the world of winning the rights of workers. But these rights are now too easily forgotten under the pressure of global economy. This is a social crisis in longer term. At least this movie has succeeded to portray this crisis.