A vital documentary for these desperate times in our mixed up country.
"Still the Enemy Within" is not for the faint hearted as it may have you snarling at the screen with anger, but it's a well made and timely piece with a core rightly centred around the men and woman who were at the centre of the 1984 strikes - predominantly the miners themselves.
Owen Gower lets period Footage, news bulletins, articles and music provide the backdrop to his documentary, but always in the foreground are a group of people who tell the story of the virtual destruction of Britain's Trade Unions. (which is effectively what happened after the Miners lost their battle) It's tempting to call these protagonists "characters" as Norman Strike (his real name!) in particular has a way with words and some killer one liners, but this would be a patronising and unfair moniker.All the central people are eloquent in their conclusions and share strong opinions which help to give the film a strong sense of narrative.
As the piece begins we see battle lines being drawn between an antagonistic Tory government and a group who are rightly portrayed as a microcosm of the "workers" fight against monetarism, privatisation and ultimately the depletion of this countries manufacturing base. Sadly we hear how ultimately the Miners stood alone in this fight and I was left with a feeling of regret about what could have been had one or two key moments been different during the period.
Gower skilfully takes us through the "conflict" at a good pace with key moments being reflected on. Even though I knew the outcome like we all do, I still got false hope when the "nacods" ( National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers) appeared set to join the strike and improve the chances of success. Somehow Gower genuinely made me live out the cliché of being on the edge of my seat, so he's definitely doing something right.
As the film progressed I did wonder how he would handle the inevitable conclusions as this would seem anti-climatic after the hopes that had gone before. Ultimately, this is a documentary and therefore nothing is sugar coated. Even now it's depressing to watch the early faltering of the strike as dribs and drabs of workers return to work. Some lured in by the NCB's outrageous offers and others simply close to collapse as their families are torn apart. In relative terms it's a few short years after their return that the industry is ripped apart. Gutting.
I and many others in the theatre gasped at several moments of police violence and held back tears along with the men and women commenting on screen. It would be nice to hear the voices of some of the police and authority figures who were engaged in quelling the strike at times in almost "para military" fashion as the film tells us, but again this is not the point of the experience. I left the theatre deep in contemplation, admiration for those who persevered and anger. The statistic that 40% of our power still comes from coal and yet 80% of that coal comes from abroad ringing in my ears. Continuing to put paid to the governments lie that by the 1990's there was no future for British Coal.
I know I'll think about this film for some time with mixed emotions, but any film that gets you thinking has got to be a good one!
Whatever your political stand point and whatever you may feel about Coal and its place in power generation this is a vital film as I said before. It reminds us of the people behind the headlines and along with the recent fictional movie "Pride" (watch out for some specific links!)keeps a part of our history very much alive. I'm hoping we can all begin to stop seeing workers with grievances as "enemies" at all, let alone "Still the enemy within".
"Still the Enemy Within" is not for the faint hearted as it may have you snarling at the screen with anger, but it's a well made and timely piece with a core rightly centred around the men and woman who were at the centre of the 1984 strikes - predominantly the miners themselves.
Owen Gower lets period Footage, news bulletins, articles and music provide the backdrop to his documentary, but always in the foreground are a group of people who tell the story of the virtual destruction of Britain's Trade Unions. (which is effectively what happened after the Miners lost their battle) It's tempting to call these protagonists "characters" as Norman Strike (his real name!) in particular has a way with words and some killer one liners, but this would be a patronising and unfair moniker.All the central people are eloquent in their conclusions and share strong opinions which help to give the film a strong sense of narrative.
As the piece begins we see battle lines being drawn between an antagonistic Tory government and a group who are rightly portrayed as a microcosm of the "workers" fight against monetarism, privatisation and ultimately the depletion of this countries manufacturing base. Sadly we hear how ultimately the Miners stood alone in this fight and I was left with a feeling of regret about what could have been had one or two key moments been different during the period.
Gower skilfully takes us through the "conflict" at a good pace with key moments being reflected on. Even though I knew the outcome like we all do, I still got false hope when the "nacods" ( National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers) appeared set to join the strike and improve the chances of success. Somehow Gower genuinely made me live out the cliché of being on the edge of my seat, so he's definitely doing something right.
As the film progressed I did wonder how he would handle the inevitable conclusions as this would seem anti-climatic after the hopes that had gone before. Ultimately, this is a documentary and therefore nothing is sugar coated. Even now it's depressing to watch the early faltering of the strike as dribs and drabs of workers return to work. Some lured in by the NCB's outrageous offers and others simply close to collapse as their families are torn apart. In relative terms it's a few short years after their return that the industry is ripped apart. Gutting.
I and many others in the theatre gasped at several moments of police violence and held back tears along with the men and women commenting on screen. It would be nice to hear the voices of some of the police and authority figures who were engaged in quelling the strike at times in almost "para military" fashion as the film tells us, but again this is not the point of the experience. I left the theatre deep in contemplation, admiration for those who persevered and anger. The statistic that 40% of our power still comes from coal and yet 80% of that coal comes from abroad ringing in my ears. Continuing to put paid to the governments lie that by the 1990's there was no future for British Coal.
I know I'll think about this film for some time with mixed emotions, but any film that gets you thinking has got to be a good one!
Whatever your political stand point and whatever you may feel about Coal and its place in power generation this is a vital film as I said before. It reminds us of the people behind the headlines and along with the recent fictional movie "Pride" (watch out for some specific links!)keeps a part of our history very much alive. I'm hoping we can all begin to stop seeing workers with grievances as "enemies" at all, let alone "Still the enemy within".