As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
-- James Oppenheim
A film about two, superficially at least, disparate and oppressed communities working together in the face of adversity.
If there's one thing I hate it's looking back at the 80's with rose-tinted glasses. The 80's were, to me at least, a time of inequity, unemployment, hate, section 28, the privatisation of national resources, fascism and Margaret fucking Thatcher, but from the opening scene I'm swept away in a stream of nostalgia, authenticity and solidarity. Pride is funny, moving, accurate and fearless. The next time the firefighters, nurses and teachers are portrayed as greedy and selfish, every time the working class are demonised by the government, media and your mates down the pub, and if your son or daughter comes out to you, think of Pride and do the right thing.
Remember, every person has the right to withhold their labour in protest to injustice. Had Pride been released in the late eighties it would have been banned from cinemas across the country due to Section 28.
Pride contains outstanding performances by a great ensemble cast (Joe Gilgun is awesome yet again)! Even Bill Nighy pulls his usual act back several notches.
Further reading:
Another reason to hate The Sun
The 1985 Gay Pride march
Pride is the dog's bollocks and many tears were shed!
This government had an idea
The Parliament made it law
Seems like it's illegal
To fight for the Union any more
And which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
We set out to join the picket lines
For together we cannot fail
We got stopped by police at the county line
They said, "Go home, boys or you're going to jail"
And which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
Well, it's hard to explain to a crying child
Why her Daddy won't go back
So the family suffer but it hurts me more
To hear a scab say, Sod you, Jack
Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on, boys
Which side are you on?
Well, I'm bound to follow my conscience
And I'll do whatever I can
But it'll take much more than the Union law
To knock the fight out of a working man
And which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
-- Florence Reece
Original letterboxd review
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