Made In Dagenham (2010)
Certified: 14
Duration: 113 minutes
Directed by: Nigel Cole
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike, Jaime Winstone, Bob Hoskins, Richard Schiff, John Sessions, Kenneth Cranham, Daniel May
KRS release

Made In Dagenham is a nostalgic feel-good British film. Director Nigel Cole, who had already made quite a splash with the entertaining Calendar Girls (2003), directs the film in a style reminiscent of The Full Monty (1997) and successfully mixes drama and comedy.

While the film looks back to the 1960s with nostalgia, it is not blind to the fact that everything was not perfect. Sexual discrimination was rife and till the late 1960s, it was not expected that men and women were to be given equal wages.

The film is set in Dagenham in 1968. A recent pay restructuring at the Ford plant has seen the female employees being downgraded to “unskilled”, meaning less pay. At the time women were already being paid less than men; having them classified as “unskilled” was rubbing salt into their wounds.

The main protagonist is Ford employee Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins), who is married and has two children. She the cause of the female employees wholeheartedly but she has a lot going against her, not the least of which is her own trade union which is male-dominated. It expects the women to kowtow to the company so as not to cause trouble for the male workers.

The film follows the strikes held by the female employees who worked in making seats for the Ford cars; the talks with the company heads and trade union bosses; the family problems that ensued and the colourful talks with Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson), Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity.

We all know that the film will conclude with the women getting what they want and thus paving the way for the Equal Pay Act; thus it is more to the film’s merit that the film keeps us well entertained for the duration. Mr Cole keeps things a bit too light sometimes and too cosily British (one can almost smell the tea being brewed) thus removing some of the gravitas that such a film could have easily produced.

The film is propelled forward by its performances. Sally Hawkins especially makes for a likable protagonist; she is a hero but one who has been pushed into that position. As for the supporting cast, Daniel Mays is also likable but one-dimensional as the husband who is lost in the events; Rosamund Pike is picture perfect as an upper class wife who is still being discriminated against; Bob Hoskins, as the union representative who pushes Rita on, is excellent; while Jaime Winstone, as one of the strikers with modelling aspirations, provides an interesting sub plot. Meanwhile, Miranda Richardson as Barbara Castle is simply spot on as a fiery Secretary of State.

Made in Dagenham is light entertainment first and foremost. What makes this picturesque film quite a treat is that it so heartfelt and honest in its approach. It provides its audience with a fair share of both chuckles and inspirational moments.

Made In Dagenham will also make quite compulsory viewing to all employees, male and female alike.