Pri review – when gay activists stck a al wh mers | Pri | The Guardian

Contents:

• WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
• PRI REVIEW – WHEN GAY ACTIVISTS STCK A AL WH MERS
• COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'
• ‘PRI’S’ BILL NIGHY SE SIAR STGGL FOR GAYS, STRIKG MERS

WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI

Gay activists work to help mers durg their lengthy strike of the Natnal Unn of Meworkers the summer of productn, box office & pany Vios56More like thisReview There is nothg not wonrful about this you don't lgh, don't shed a tear, or don't want to get up and cheer at the end, then you weren't payg attentn durg this movie.

" He acknowledg now that this is a le you n only e once a pch and explas that he went on to tell the story of mers the Dulais valley South Wal durg the 1984-5 strike – the longt Brish history – and a gay and lbian group om London that donated more money (£11, 000 by December 1984) to their e than any other fundraiser the UK, along wh a mib emblazoned wh the logo LGSM: Lbians and Gays Support the a when a gree of homophobia was the norm, LGSM drove a uple of mib om Hackney Communy Transport and a clapped-out VW mper van to a bleak mg town South Wal to prent their donatns, uncerta what sort of wele to expect.

PRI REVIEW – WHEN GAY ACTIVISTS STCK A AL WH MERS

Three years later and the film, shot Banwen, Wal, and London, and directed by Tony-wng Matthew Warch (rponsible for Matilda the Mil, and soon to be artistic director of the Old Vic), is might assume a rom about strikg mers and 80s gays was unlikely to be big box-office, but the same was probably said of Billy Ellt.

COAL MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS PARTNER IN 'PRI'

"In the homema LGSM documentary, we also glimpse a tall, handsome fellow wearg groovy leather troers, shakg a donatns bucket outsi Gay's the Word bookshop London's Marchmont Street – this is Jonathan Blake. Gay activists work to help mers durg their lengthy strike of the Natnal Unn of Meworkers the summer of 1984, 20-year-old closet gay Joe hantly arriv London om Bromley for his first Gay Pri march and is taken unr the llective wg of a group of gay men and Lbian Steph, who meet at the Soho bookshop of flamboyant Jonathan and his Welsh partner Geth. Not only are gays beg threatened by Thatcher, but also the mers are on strike rponse to her p closur, and Northern Irish activist Mark Ashton believ that gays and mers should show solidary.

‘PRI’S’ BILL NIGHY SE SIAR STGGL FOR GAYS, STRIKG MERS

Almost by accint, a mib-load of gays fd themselv the Welsh village of Onllwyn the Dulais valley, and through their scere fundraisg and Jonathan's nifty dis mov persua most of the muny that they are on the same si. When a bigot tri to sabotage the partnership wh a tabloid smear Mark turns back on her wh a hugely-succsful benef ncert to which most of the villagers, now thoroughly tune wh their gay iends, turn up. Some of even film is unashamedly polil, both s reprentatn of the prejudice agast homosexuals at a time was AIDS was vastatg the gay muny and the hostily of misters, media and police to the mers' fight to keep ps open, but the treatment ensur that this is an immensely entertag and often very funny work.

Although the movie wears s polil heart on s sleeve, avoids an over-simplistic portrayal of the gay e by showg entrenched opposn to their volvement the mers dispute om sectns of the Welsh muny and challenge om gays themselv as to why they should be volved a workers' strike, although the ntroversy of the lack of a ballot thorisg the strike self is script is a triumph wh every le makg an impact and tellg somethg and there are some wonrful jok.

Although GLSM was eventually shunned by the official strike mtee and the mers lost the strike and almost all of Bra's ps have subsequently closed, the ncludg scen of the film and the fal bs of rmative text turn this historic teractn to a succs that should spire the prent day gay muny and labour movement alike.

The movie got the tails exactly right, I and many of my gay iends were on lots of march cludg the on agast Clse 28 the evil Tory piece of legislatn that outlawed promotn of homosexualy schools and publicly fund mms and art gallerias (among others) I want to say about this film is that young gay and straight people should see . So one big thank you to all volved for makg this 50 somethg gay man remember so vividly, and spe of the dark days portrayed, our youthful stggle and remdg that we really did somethg wonrful and change thgs, as this film is proof posive that we did jt by the fact that is got ma.

I hope that young gay people, who still pe wh the same problems we did, isolated, alone, and sred n watch this film and ga strength om and jo the fight agast prejudice still to be won. Instead, this is really a study of the enormo prejudice and real physil danger faced by the gay and lbian muny London and the untry MacKay ("Sunshe on Leh") plays "Bromley" (real name Joe) – a 20-year old (so therefore unr-age at the time) who is a closet gay. Helpg him are his assorted iends cludg gay uple Jonathan and Geth (Domic Wt and the brilliant Andrew – "Moriaty" – Stt), Mike (Joseph Gilgun), Jeff (Freddie Fox) and Steph (Faye Marsay… "I'm the 'L' LGSM!

In particular (give or take the odd dodgy accent) the characters who make up the Welsh muny are all superb: Paddy Conside ("Hot Fuzz", "The Bourne Ultimatum") plays the open and reasonable envoy first sent to London to meet LGSM; Bill Nighy a quiet and unrstated performance (y, you heard me right) plays Cliff; Imelda Stnton plays the hilar role of Hefa, lear of the mtee group; Jsi Gunng is pch-perfect as Sian – a tea lady wh a feisty attu and Mreen (Lisa Paley) is a lightfully unlikable homophobic mer's wife who stok trouble wh ntemptuo glee. And was me or did one of Mreen's rabidly homophobic sons do a U-turn appearg wh the other mers at the (remarkably, historilly rrect) gay pri march at the end of the film? If so, this seems to be an unnecsary and Hollywood-style ndy-atg too all, for me this is a film that both highlights how far we have e thirty years the area of gay rights and perhaps how far there still is to go.

Gradually the "wele the gays" group gas sway and an effective, funny, heart-warmg and movg arrangement is reached and the village benefs fancially and emotnally om the Gay group's story is a te one and the characters are (or were, AIDS took s toll) real people. Although the strike is to some extent a backdrop to the story of growg engagement between the village and s gay helpers is much more than are some fe sub-plots as well.