Made In Dagenham

Made+in+Dagenham+movie+posterDirected: Nigel Cole
Written: William Ivory
Released: October 2010
Featuring: Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike, Miranda Richardson, Bob Hoskins, Geraldine James

This movie is based in the late sixties during a time when women were treated unequally in the work place. They were degraded and given less pay than the men, simply because they are women.

Made-In-DagenhamRitaThe leader of the movement Rita O’Grady, played by Sally Hawkins, a worker in a Ford factory in Dagenham, organises the rallies. Based on a true story, these women made history in their success in getting equality in the workplace – even meeting Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson)!

Rita carries the guilt of others’ personal issues such as dealing with the after effects of war on her friends as well as keeping everybody united in the struggle against the workplace. This adds another very human dimension to the film.

Rights not privileges, it’s really that simple.

made-in-dagenham-LisaMy favourite character is by far Lisa, played by Rosamund Pike. She is beautifully elegant, and posesses a fantastically strong sense of right and wrong. Her opinion is generally unwelcome, but I just adore everybody’s faces when she speaks out  A look of utter shock. She is strong, intelligent and an amazing woman.

I’m Lisa Burnett, I’m 31 years old and I have a first class honours degree from one of the finest universities in the world, and my husband treats me like I’m a fool…

made-in-dagenham-voteIt’s based in the sixties, so naturally the music and fashion is absolutely to die for! The dresses, the hair, the dancing *gasp* …so amazing.

This is a movie that will inspire and move you. It is entertaining and funny with an amazing cast! This is not a preachy feminist film either. This is based on true circumstances adding so much integrity to the script.

The front cover of the DVD and poster is very inaccurate. It looks like it is a happy-go-lucky rom-com. It is far from it. It is a drama based on humanity and personal triumphs.

An incredible journey by heroines based in a time of total change.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

The Actors

The Actors

Director: Conor McPherson
Writer: Neil Jordan
Released: 2003
Starring:  Michael Caine, Dylan Moran, Lena Headey, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Michael McElhatton, Abigail Iversen, Aisling O’Sullivan, Ben Miller, Simon Delaney, Alvaro Lucchesi

The funniest movie I have seen in a very long time.

It’s intelligent-funny… Not happy-clappy, seen it before, recycled Hollywood shizz. With Dylan Moran playing the protagonist and the supporting act being Michael Caine, this concoction of pure awesome is sure to be a pleaser.

Surprisingly, this film is not well-known. But it is a film everybody would enjoy with its ironic plot line and an under-lying love story, which I am happy to say doesn’t take centre-stage regularly. Dylan Moran’s character, Thomas Quirk, is indeed a quirky guy who loosely calls himself an actor working in play with a fellow actor, Anthony O’Malley (Caine).

Dylan Moran undercover

O’Malley soon hears about a scheme going down in the local bar where
“a certain somebody owes money to another certain somebody, but they have never met”. He decides that Quirk does need to practice his acting skills and convinces Thomas to be the collecter whom the debtor has never met. Of course, how could something like that ever be as straight forward as it sounds!?

Dylan Moran’s disguises throughout this scheme are hilarious and you will be sure to be repeating and imitating the characters after! This script is so funny and its catch-phrases remind me of the film Juno.

The Actors Caine

Despite being an up-beat comedy, the camera work (particularly lighting) in many scenes are spot-on and very well done, so is the music. Now I really want to buy the soundtrack! The songs and compositions by Michael Nyman are spectacularly emotional and support the visuals very well.

It’s a film that merges the stage actors and improvisation actors which I thought was really clever and it gave the film a really unique twist.

I can’t believe the negative reviews I have found on this film… How? o.O I thought it was HILARIOUS and I watch it regularly.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

I can’t find a trailer, so here’s a pretty funny scene where Dylan Moran is playing Thomas Quirk who is undercover as “Barreller”. Barreller accidentally gave the money to Quirk earlier on. Now, Quirk is pretending to be Barreller, confronting “Jock” who the money was supposed to go to… Ugh, don’t worry, it makes more sense in the film.