Les virtuoses (1996)

The coal mine in a northern English village may be closing, which would also mean the end of the miners' brass band.

Director:

Mark Herman

Writer:

Mark Herman

Stars:

Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, Ewan McGregor

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 10 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Danny
Tara Fitzgerald	...	Gloria
Ewan McGregor	...	Andy
Stephen Tompkinson	...	Phil
Jim Carter	...	Harry
Philip Jackson	...	Jim
Peter Martin	...	Ernie
Sue Johnston	...	Vera
Mary Healey	...	Ida
Melanie Hill	...	Sandra
Lill Roughley	...	Rita
Peter Gunn	...	Simmo
Stephen Moore	...	McKenzie
Kenneth Colley	...	Greasley (as Ken Colley)
Olga Grahame	...	Mrs. Foggan

Storyline

In existence for a hundred years, Grimley Colliery Brass band is as old as the mine. But the miners are now deciding whether to fight to keep the pit open, and the future for town and band looks bleak. Although the arrival of flugelhorn player Gloria injects some life into the players, and bandleader Danny continues to exhort them to continue in the national competition, frictions and pressures are all too evident. And whose side is Gloria actually on?

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Plot Keywords:

yorkshire | reference to margaret thatcher | bare chested male | band | hope | 

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Taglines:

Fed up with the system. Ticked off at the establishment. And mad about... each other.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Commonly understood to be based on Grimethorpe Colliery Band, the fictional pit village of Grimley is actually an amalgamation of two neighboring South Yorkshire pit villages: Grimethorpe and Frickley. Both have internationally known brass bands. Frickley pit closed in 1993, a year after Grimethorpe.

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Goofs

When Gloria is playing the Concerto de Aranjuez, the second measure after the Flugelhorn comes in, she plays a note with the second valve that should be played with the first valve. The written note is a B-flat for Flugelhorn (concert A-Flat). Playing with the second valve would produce a B natural, a half step higher.

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Quotes

[about God]
Phil: [as Mr. Chuckles] What's He doing? He can take John Lennon. He can take those three young lads down at Ainsley Pit. He's even thinking of taking my old man. And Margaret bloody Thatcher lives! What's He sodding playing at, eh?

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Crazy Credits

On some prints, the words "The End" remain onscreen as three additional lines of "definitions" are added one by one underneath: n. 1. closure (as in 140 pits since 1984) 2. termination (as in 250,000 jobs) 3. conclusion (as in draw your own...)

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Alternate Versions

The British release does not have the dictionary definitions at the start or end of the film. These were added to the American release to introduce the US audience to British slang. The end of the film has the same information, but just as normal text.

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Connections

Referenced in Comedy Connections: Drop the Dead Donkey (2006)

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Soundtracks

Clog Dance
Composed by John Marcangelo (as Marcangelo)
Published by Aviation Music Limited

User Reviews

underground musical offering

"The best thing about being working class is getting out of it" said a notable Australian Labor politician (Neville Wran, premier of NSW 1976-1986). The coal miners in "Brassed Off" thought so too, but found redundancy not what it was cracked up to be. At the start, pits are closing all over Britain, but the Grimley colliery in South Yorkshire is still open and making a profit. After a hard day's dirty work down the mine there's nought like a session with the band to blow out the dust. Let by total obsessive bandleader Danny (Peter Postlewaithe) the boys play a surprising range - Rodrigo's "Aranjuez" (we call it "orange juice" says Danny), Rossini's "William Tell" overture and lots of Elgar and other English sentimental favourites - "Jerusalem," "Danny Boy," "Colonel Bogey" and "All Things Bright and Beautiful."

Though possible closure is on the horizon, things are fairly cozy until pretty young Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald) walks in with a vintage obbligato cornet and asks to join. She's a woman (shock, horror!) but granddaughter of a former member and after a demonstration of her musical prowess is allowed in. Brooding young Andy (Ewan McGregor, unforgettable in "Trainspotting") has kissed the young lady years previously and falls for her again.

The band have their problems, especially Phil (Stephen Tompkinson) son of Danny the leader. Phil has an unfortunate gambling habit that keeps him broke and his family on the financial edge. In the background the future of the mine is becoming bleaker.

In the meantime Danny, who is developing a very bad cough, decides the band can make the national championships at the Albert Hall, and despite bailiffs, mendacious mine management, feral hospital matrons and British weather they get there.

This film in many ways is an update of the fine, well crafted "Ealing" comedy of the 1950s, celebrating the triumph of ordinary people over adverse circumstances, officialdom and middle class pretentiousness, through their own determination and talent. For the 90s the comedy has a harder edge and the political element more overt. At the end we are reminded of the hundreds of pits closed and 250,000 jobs lost in Britain between 1984 (the year of the great miners' strike) and 1994. But surely the filmmakers are not arguing the miners should still be down below. Global warming alone means coal has had its day. The real crime was the failure to invest in alternative employment and to allow the destruction of the communities which had grown up around the mines. The British State, which owned the mines for 40 years after World War Two, proved a harsher master than the old private owners, especially when the Bad Baroness herself, Margaret Thatcher, decided to sell.

On the strength of their performance here, the (mythical) Grimley band could easily turn professional, like the similarly displaced workers in "The Full Monty." Unlike "The Full Monty" the "Brassed Off" crowd don't step outside their mind-set - they are still chained to their working class attitudes and the future looks like happening without them. They escape from the working class to the underclass, clutching a year's salary most of them will soon be parted from. The traditional happy ending of the Ealing comedy is here only symbolic. Still, the miners' spirit shines through and you can't help admiring their grit. And the music's nice.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1997 (France)

Also Known As:

Les virtuoses

Filming Locations:

British Waterways Wharf, Friars Gate, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$52,534, 26 May 1997

Gross USA:

$2,576,331

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,576,331

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Films, Miramax, Prominent Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1