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"Made in Dagenham" (British) - 2010

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  1. Seykota Seykota is offline

    TX
    United States

    Posts: 8,385
    Joined: Jul 05

    Mar 26th, 2011 (3/26/2011 7:16am)

    With the Industrial era well underway in late 1960’s Dagenham, England union struggles and the fight for equal pay for women become prevalent. Working women in factory conditions at a Dagenham’s Ford plant choose to go on strike for their rights. These struggling ladies had quite a feat ahead of them as the dominant male union did not want to risk a strike or originally see the need to bother with securing equal pay for women. Two union leaders: a very corrupt one in bed with the corporation and willing to sell the women down the drain and write them off and sympathetic one who grew up in a household with a struggling single mother who could barely pay the bills and is working under the table to advance the women’s cause, are at odds with one another with each having to constantly outmaneuver the other.

    And then Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins), a very elegant, soft spoken woman, appears and finds her voice as the women’s spokesperson. It’s no easy task, as intimidation from the Ford family itself ensues, a struggling home life as her husband has to pick up her responsibilities and also finds himself not working due to the women’s strike, and a fight with a dear best friend all come to light. The Ford family and corporation was not spared any sympathy for its actions in this film.

    Quite an amazing film when you see how one person with words of encouragement stood up to help make a change. There were quite a few Marxist quotes thrown back and forth during this film, with the most memorable one, “Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex.” This quote is said before a well-to-do woman with a prestigious, Cambridge history degree whose husband prefers her hostess skills instead of her brain appears in the film. She turns out to be the wife of the Ford plant manager in Dagenham and stops by to give Rita words of encouragement for standing up on behalf of even women such as herself.

    Rita bravely addresses a union meeting in which the union men give her a voice and recognize her as brave while stating that she has done more to stand up for the unions than the corrupt union leaders themselves. After weeks of strikes and struggling, enough media attention has been drawn to the women’s cause. A fiery red-haired politician from the Labour party, Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson), calls Ford’s bluff and helps to negotiate and secure equal pay for women.

    There are a lot of union themes in movies lately as I plan to see another movie with this theme on Sunday. Can’t help but wonder….

    Overall, I thought this was an interesting piece of history and a good film. Very humorous and not too overly feminine of the guys out there. Definitely worth a watch. 4 out of 5 stars would be my ranking.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371155/
    Edited By: Seykota Mar 29th, 2011 at 02:43 AM
  2. skeeze666 skeeze666 is offline

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    Mar 26th, 2011 (3/26/2011 5:35pm) in reply to Seykota

    Thanks for the write up! I think I recall Albatross really liked this film...at least I think I remember that? I had a chance to see it a few months back but didn't make it, so now just another to add to the queue.

    Keep it up.
    Edited By: skeeze666 Mar 26th, 2011 at 05:36 PM
  3. LuckyWilbury LuckyWilbury is offline

    Saudi Arabia

    Posts: 918
    Joined: Feb 10

    Mar 26th, 2011 (3/26/2011 5:44pm) in reply to skeeze666

    I think I may die before I get through my entire netflix list but I haven't been disappointed by anything recommended by you all thus far so keep 'em coming. Couple of my favorite gems that I may never have heard if not for this site; Let the Right One In, The Lives of Others and The White Ribbon. Just got Cache in the mail, gonna watch today.
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