Brassed Off

Brassed Off is set in a Yorkshire mining town where the local colliery is threatened with closure, putting the future of the community and its long-standing brass band in doubt. The band's conductor, Danny, pushes the miners to keep competing despite their uncertain jobs, while Gloria, a flugelhorn player who has returned to town, joins the group and faces skepticism as its first female member. Her arrival gives the band a fresh chance as they aim for a national competition, a goal that becomes tangled with the wider struggle over the pit and with old ties between Gloria and Andy.

Mark Herman wrote and directed the film, his first feature as director in a run that continued with Little Voice, Hope Springs and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Ewan McGregor plays Andy, with Tara Fitzgerald as Gloria and Pete Postlethwaite as Danny, heading a credited cast of thirty-three.

Released in 1996, the film took about 3 million dollars worldwide, a modest figure that places it as a small-scale British production rather than a commercial success. On IMDb it holds 7.2/10 from around 22,000 votes, and on TMDB 7/10 from roughly 300 votes, a narrower sample showing similar approval. The critics' rating stands at 6.7/10 from 48 reviews, close to the audience scores.