PRIDE Trailer
The function of a trailer is to lure you into watching a certain film. It does this by giving you the most attractive, cherry-picked scenes. My purpose here is filler: add-ons, surplus information, and the authenticity only a random Asian man can give you. In fulfilling my obligations in that front, I’m also going to imitate a film trailer. I will do this by giving you cherry-picked information that answers 5 basic questions known as the 5 Ws.
What?
The trailer below is for the new movie, Pride (2014), not to be confused with Pride (2007). This film, directed by Tony Award Winner Matthew Warchus, was recently screened as part of the Director’s Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It won the Queer Palm award and subsequently CBS films acquired the U.S distribution rights.
Who?
LGBT activists calling themselves the LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) seek to aid a miner’s union on the basis of solidarity against common enemies. The miner’s union is the group currently at odds with the Margaret Thatcher-led government, the common enemy. After being unable to get early donations accepted by the union, they head to a small Welsh village to hand the money over personally.
I want to go over the actors one by one since they’re all brilliant.
Bill Nighy (Cliff) – he’s like that nice shy old man who gives fruit on Halloween. Cliff means well but was raised in a different time. His character struggles to be comfortable with the LBGT group while the looming threat of mining pit closures eats away. Yes, I got all this just from the trailer. It’s that scene where they’re around a clipboard and he stumbles saying, “Lesbians and gays support the miners” which is uttered by Dai instead.
Paddy Considine (Dai) plays the leader of the mine workers union who seems like a great mediator between the LGBT and the miner’s union. In the trailer, he is always between or in front of groups of people.
Imelda Staunton (Hefina) – you may remember her as Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter films. This time around, she fights for good but still seems incredibly belligerent as many of the trailer scenes has her in people’s faces. Not literally though.
Where?
It starts in London then moves on to a mining village deep in the valleys of Wales.
When?
It all begins in the Summer of 1984. Specifically, the miner’s strike of 1984-85. A major event in British history based on opposition between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the conservative government of the time driven by Margaret Thatcher.
Why?
Matthew Warchus explains it much better than I do, so here are quotes from this article.
“The miners’ strike, we now know, wasn’t ever just about economics. It was a key battle in a broader war of ideologies: the common good versus self-interest, society versus the individual, socialism versus capitalism.” – Matthew Warchus, source: The Guardian
“Both groups in the film – LGSM and the Welsh miners – are certainly politically minded, but it’s their humanity that’s so compelling. Pride engages the audience not in party politics or preachy agendas, but in much bigger concepts of generosity and compassion.” – Matthew Warchus, source: The Guardian
At the same time, both of these quotes also effectively explain why you should go see this movie. Pride hits the US on September 19, 2014 and the UK on September 12, 2014. For more info on other release dates, click here.
Have any concerns, questions, comments, or complaints about Pride? Post it here and discuss.
(top image source: Pride – CBS Films)
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