Made In Dagenham is a British biopic drama film directed by Nigel Cole. It tells the real-life story of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham Car Plant and the fight for equal pay.
I think this film is riveting, I can’t say how close it keeps to reality, but I would assume quite close as the real people were involved. Watching it I learnt about events that I had no idea about, I feel like this part of British history doesn’t get much attention when it comes to films, so I am glad this got made. I think this film raises a lot of key questions about our society and the petty arbitrary divisions within it; with the takeaway being if you want change you need to fight for it.
I think from a characterization position the only character that is done well is Rita (Sally Hawkins), not only do we root for her to win, we get to see through her eyes just how unfair and plain wrong the world was, and to some extent still is. However, the other characters aren’t so rounded and that would be my major criticism of the film. Rosamund Pike’s character Lisa only really exists to give Rita a pep talk when things seem their darkest, outside of that she is not developed at all; she might not a played a vital role in the real events so that might be why she has so little development, but then why include her at all? The same can be said for a number of other characters as well.
Overall, I think the lack of character development doesn’t hold this film back as the main character feels rounded and it is through her eyes that we see this world. I think this is a must watch as it highlights parts of history we might be unaware of and exposes issues that we need to face. I think Hawkins is at her best here and I really recommend you check this one out!
Pros.
Highlight maybe forgotten history.
Hawkins.
Gripping to watch.
You care about the struggle.
Cons.
A lot of the characters other than Rita exist souly to push the story along.
4.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 