Pride (2014)
Certified: 15
Duration: 120 minutes
Directed by: Matthew Warchus
Starring: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, George MacKay, Ben Schnetzer, Joseph Gilgun, Freddie Fox, Paddy Considine
KRS Releasing Ltd

Pride is one of those British movies that like The Full Monty, Billy Elliott and Calendar Girls is warm hearted, funny and yet very much in touch with the scene, situation and the people it is portraying.

It’s the kind of movie that is very difficult to find fault with as it has ‘crowdpleaser’ written all over and it is very difficult not to get caught in its warm and fuzzy feeling.

Strangely enough, Pride is also a true story that takes us to London and Wales of 1984. In a nutshell, it is the retelling of how the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) movement was founded.

The story kicks off in June 1984 at the London Gay Pride march where we meet Joe (George MacKay), a fictional character who is 20 years old, a trainee chef and very much still in the closet. However, he gets caught in the march and ends up in Russell Square at the Gay’s the Word bookstore.

Here Mark (Ben Schnetzer) from Northern Ireland and Mike (Joseph Gilgun) from the north of England launch the LGSM movement.

The reason behind the gay and lesbian support for the coal miners – who overall were seen as being very homophobic – was that the two fronts shared common adversaries: Margaret Thatcher. The group also included Grthin (Andrew Scott), the owner of the bookstore, Steph (Faye Marsay), the group’s only lesbian, and Jonathan (Dominic West), an over-the-top actor. The National Union of Mineworkers is not enamoured with the idea that their cause is going to be supported by a movement that is made up of socially ostracised individuals. Thus the LGSM tries to reach out to people. It goes to the small coal mining village of the Dulais Valley in Onllwyn, South Wales.

Here the members are brought into the community by their representative, Dai (Paddy Considine), who is a bit nervous about all this.

The film shows the differences between the two cultures and most of these moments are delivered with such a tongue-in-cheek attitude that it is difficult not to smile at the proceedings.

History is what it is and everyone knows that it was Thatcher who was the ultimate victor in the coal miners’ issue. However, the production ends the movie on just the right note with the right touch of sentimentality that wins the audience’s hearts.

Pride is rich in its characters. Bill Nighy , as a veteran miner with poetry in his heart, is a gold mine while Imelda Staunton is Hefina, a Dulais community organiser. She is simply spot on as she brings to the screen a spritely touch.

Meanwhile, Lisa Palfrey plays a perfect villain type as Maureen, who is all out to stop these Londoners from ruining and infecting their community. Considine also has good screen presence.

Stephen Beresford’s script is one of the film’s strongest points as it provides the right ambience, handling of characters and situations for the story to be really effective.

This film shows how much this past story is still relevant and how much it is important to build on what has happened to continue working fora better future. The result is a movie about spirit and the pride in actually showing spirit.