Mooching at a dodgy DVD stall on Silom Road yesterday, I come across a copy of that underrated Britflick Brassed Off. The packaging, it would appear, is taken from the US release. It presents the movie as some kind of daffy romantic comedy, with Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald being the only actors of interest. There is no mention of the 1984-85 miners' strike, which forms the backdrop to the film.
Nor, oddly enough, is there a single reference anywhere to brass bands.
6 comments:
Fara Titzgerald: *would*
xxx
Bob
wrude hornification: share
Ahhhh!
I bet it's been re-cut and the scene where Pete Postlethwaite rants about pit closures has mysteriously disappeared because, like, Americans wouldn't understand it and it would give the film a negative slant. Bah.
Heheh, that's terrific. Here's the cover in question - they've even added an exclamation mark to the title, to make it seem more exciting.
Having said that, any underhand technique to shift copies of that film - which I'd describe not so much underrated as accuratelyrated - is understandable.
That's like selling Jaws without the shark.
I liked it. Quite hard to get contemporary politics into a mainstream, successful British film.
Yes, Bob, there was a patch in the 1990s when she really was the new Jenny Agutter (posh and usually naked).
Well why don't they remake it with Adam Sandler then, Betty?
Thanks for that, John. Yes, I remember that bit when TF dons a strappy black number before her cornet solo. And the car chase and the shoot out.
Jaws without the shark is good, Annie. I also saw a trailer for Starter for 10 which made no reference to TV quiz shows.
And before anyone says "Yes, but Americans don't have brass bands/University Challenge/bad teeth, so they wouldn't understand," I'll just point out that we didn't have the American Civil War, and we still understood Gone With The Wind.
The U.S. does have brass bands, and this film is well known and loved in that fraternity.
I conduct the Rockville Brass Band, a British style brass band based near Washington D.C.
See here for a list of brass bands in the U.S.
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