And who can forget the timeless summer tune – Cruel Summer – that highlighted the movie and saturated the airwaves. As much as I love the song, I will not touch the Bananrama video, some things are better left in the 80′s, instead I present an updated version of ‘Cruel Summer’ performed by Ace of Base:

Skye’s Score: Magical adaptation!

Directed By: Micheal Hoffman
Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Calista Flockhart, Rupert Everett, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci as Puck.

The modern film cleverly combines Elizabethan dialogue with actors in mid 19th century clothing and set in a picturesque Tuscan country villa. Somehow, this oddball combination works and I can’t recall this story in any other fashion. Who knows maybe it is the Midsummer magic weaving its spell, this movie has not dimmed over the years of viewing it. It is a great way to re introduce yourself to the Bard – the greatest storyteller ever.

Brassed Off Definition:

Adj.,(Colloq)(British slang)
Dejected, Fed up, upset
generally pissed off
(SEE: Miners, American Tax Payers)

Back in the day – that would be the late 1990′s – I watched this movie with no real inclination that I would be peeking into the future of 21st century America. In all honesty, my main interest for catching this flick was Ewan McGregor. Fresh off the critically acclaimed film “Trainspotting“, he was one of the hottest actors at the time. As superficial a reason as it is, the movie is anything but superficial.

As summarized above, the movie centers around the lives of musical miners facing the threat of a Colliery closure. The unionized employees are given a choice of taking a lump sum payoff or review proceedings in the hope of keeping the Colliery open. As the fate of the Colliery is tossed about, the Colliery band played on, eventually winning the British Open Brass Band Championship.

Since 1984, roughly 158 out of 170 coal mining pits were closed following a divisive year long mining strike, which pitted the labor union NUM against the Thatcher government. Unfortunately, the big losers in this battle were the miners and their families. In response or retaliation to this strike, nearly all coal mines in Britain were deemed nonviable and closed by the government.

It couldn’t happen here, right? Who would believe that our government would take over a private industry and dictate its existence? Who would take the lump sum payoff over a steady job? Well, we did on November 4, 2008 – we voted for the payoff – ’95% of all Americans will receive a tax cut’. This is far from over, the Obama administration has fired the CEO of General Motors and slashed the marketing budget of Chrysler. All while industries across the board are laying off employees by the thousands. A bleak picture indeed, as bleak as when the musicians return from a successful brass band semi-final to discover their union voted for the bailout and closure of their beloved Colliery.

We have arrived at that point as well, witnessing massive government expansion into the private sector and wondering what the frak happened. The question is, where do we go from here? The movie does provide a ray of hope. Danny, the band conductor and father figure, reminds us of what we have forgotten.