Made in Dagenham

Made in Dagenham 2010

• Director: Nigel Cole
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Sally Hawkins, Geraldine James, Bob Hoskins, Daniel Mays, Roger Lloyd Pack, Rosamund Pike, Rupert Graves, Miranda Richardson, John Sessions
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water, The Hollow Crown, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Never Let Me Go, An Education, Happy-Go-Lucky, Little Britain, Twenty Thousand Streets under the Sky, Vera Drake
• Geraldine James – Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, Little Britain, Calendar Girls
• Bob Hoskins – Doomsday, Paris je t’aime, Mrs Henderson Presents, Last Orders, David Copperfield, Felicia’s Journey, Hook, Mona Lisa, Brazil, Othello, Rock Follies
• Daniel Mays – Treasure Island, Victor Frankenstein, Doctor Who, Hustle, Atonement, A Good Year, Vera Drake
• Roger Lloyd Pack – Twelfth Night, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Hustle, What We Did on Our Holiday, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Prick Up Your Ears
• Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl, What We Did on Our Holiday, A Long Way Down, An Education, The Libertine, Die Another Day
• Rupert Graves – Sherlock, Last Tango in Halifax, Doctor Who, Wallander, V for Vendetta, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Intimate Relations, The Madness of King George, A Handful of Dust, A Room with a View
• Miranda Richardson – Harry Potter, Paris je t’aime, Gideon’s Daughter, Wah-Wah, Absolutely Fabulous, The Hours, Black Adder, Sleepy Hollow, The Crying Game, Enchanted April, Dance with a Stranger
• John Sessions – Legend, Doctor Who, Filth, Sherlock, The Last Station, The Merchant of Venice, Gangs of New York, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V
• Why? Sally Hawkins
• Seen: 17 May 2019

             A hundred and eighty-seven women are employed at the enormous Ford factory in Dagenham – amongst the thousands and thousands of men. The year is 1968. The women’s work has been degraded to ‘unskilled’. They vote unanimously to strike.

       Rita (Hawkins) is chosen to be one of the four union members to meet management. Luckily for the workers, unluckily for the stodgy old in-management’s-pocket union representative, Rita doesn’t keep her mouth shut. Their own shop leader Albert (Hoskins) is proud of her.

       So now Rita finds herself strike leader. And union leader. And it becomes a strike for equal pay for women.

       I love films about radical factory floor unionists defeating conservative union officials and multinational capitalists especially when said radical floor unionists are women and the bad guys are men.

       How could this be anything but one of the best of the genre with this cast?

5* of 5

PS True story