Film Review: Pride

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Pride. Rated M (mature themes, coarse language, sexual reference and brief nudity). 120 minutes. Directed by Matthew Warchus. Screenplay by Stephen Beresford.

Verdict: A life-changing tale, brilliantly told.

If a film were to exist that is so entirely of its time, then this perfect example of a big-hearted and important story, brilliantly told, is it. Beresford’s superb screenplay crashes through and dismantles preconceptions, hate, suspicion, bigotry and prejudice one scene at a time, before reaching an overwhelming zenith in its final sequence that is guaranteed to melt even the hardest of hearts.

Based on actual events, Pride tells the story of an unlikely alliance between a group of gay and lesbian activists in London and the small mining community of Onllwyn in Wales, who are struggling to survive the crippling effects of the 1984 UK miners’ strike. Realising the media, the police, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher are their common enemies, the mining families and the activists attempt to find common ground in the hope that together, they might triumph in the face of soul-destroying adversity.

While it certainly owes a debt to Billy Elliott and The Full Monty, Pride stands alone in the way it unites seemingly disparate threads and contradictory agendas to fulfil its grand storytelling ambitions.

One example of Beresford’s many illuminating juxtapositions is the personal toll the effects of both the strike and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are having on two very different communities. Why, in the face of such a deadly virus, one character asks, should members of the gay community care about the extent to which the miners and their families are suffering?

The result, under Warchus’ inspired direction of his exceptional cast, is that we are constantly challenged to hold on to what we believe is important. That you just might leave the cinema with your belief system tipped on its head is only one of the many surprising gifts this extraordinary film provides.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.