And Don’t Forget Your Protractor, Seriously
With some Oscar prognosticators making too-early predictions about who is going to win what at the upcoming Oscars, many seem to forget that there are still a couple of months to go and a lot can happen in that time. “The Fighter,” “Love And Other Drugs” and “True Grit” have yet to hit theaters and while “Made In Dagenham” has done some festival rounds, it’s the kind of crowd pleaser that could easily pick up steam with the Academy, particularly if it becomes a hit with audiences.
A new trailer has arrived for the film and it puts its fist-pumping, heart-stirring nature at the fore. Directed by Nigel Cole (“Calendar Girls“), the film follows the unlikely leaders of a 1968 strike at the Ford plant in Dagenham in support of equal pay for women. And he’s assembled a tremendous cast: the wonderful Sally Hawkins (“Happy-Go-Lucky“) takes the lead role with Jaime Winstone and Andrea Riseborough among her colleagues at the plant, Bob Hoskins as their union steward, the great Daniel Mays as Hawkins’ husband, Rosamund Pike as the sympathetic upper-class wife of their boss, and Miranda Richardson as legendary left-wing politician Barbara Castle. Our man at VIFF caught the film and was pleasantly surprised by the depth and complexity of the film, and in particular noted Hawkins’ lead performance as one to watch.
The film will begin a limited rollout on November 19th. Full synopsis and trailer after the jump (or watch it in HD at Apple):
Set against the backdrop of the 1960s, Made in Dagenham is based on a true story about a group of spirited women who joined forces, took a stand for what was right, and in doing so, found their own inner strength. Although far from the Swinging Sixties of Carnaby Street, life for the women of Dagenham, England is tinged with the sounds and sights of the optimistic era, heard on their radios and seen on their TV sets. Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins) reflects that upbeat era, along with her friends and co-workers at the city’s Ford Motor Factory — Sandra (Jamie Winstone), Eileen (Nicola Duffett), Brenda (Andrea Riseborough), Monica (Lorraine Stanley) and Connie (Geraldine James) — who laugh in the face of their poor conditions. Lisa (Rosamund Pike) is a fiercely intelligent Cambridge-educated woman who feels a bit trapped, tending to the home with a husband that suggests she keep her opinions to herself. She may not live in the same world as the other women, but she shares their views. No one thought the revolution would come to Dagenham, until one day, it did. Rita, who primarily sees herself as a wife and mother, is coerced into attending a meeting with shop steward Connie, sympathetic union representative Albert (Bob Hoskins) and Peter Hopkins (Rupert Graves), Ford’s Head of Industrial Relations. What she expects to be simply a day out of work, complete with a free lunch, turns into much more when she and her colleagues become outraged by the lack of respect shown in the meeting to the women employees. With humor, common sense and courage Rita and the other women take on their bosses, an increasingly belligerent local community, and finally the government, as their intelligence and unpredictability proves to be a match for any of their male opponents. Daring to stand up and push boundaries, the women changed a system that no one wanted to admit was broken.