Why So Blu?

This Blu-ray Was ‘Made in Dagenham’

Here’s a movie that I can assure you that I know nothing about.  The Sony Pictures Classic Made in Dagenham, based on a true story and nominated for 4 BAFTA Awards, bows on Blu-ray March 29th.  The film stars Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike, Bob Hoskins and Miranda Richardson and was directed by Nigel Cole.  And since I truly know nothing about this film, I will let the below press release do all the talking if you don’t mind.  Check it out!

Culver City, CA (January 31, 2011) –Made in Dagenham, directed by Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls) and starring Golden Globe^® winner Sally Hawkins (2009 Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, Happy-Go-Lucky), Academy Award^® nominees Bob Hoskins (1987 Best Actor in a Leading Role, Mona Lisa) and Miranda Richardson (1995 Best Actress in a Leading Role, Tom and Viv; 1993 Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Damage) and Rosamund Pike (An Education, Barney’s Version) will be released on Blu-ray™ and DVD on March 29, 2011 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Special features on both versions of Made in Dagenham will include a commentary with Director Nigel Cole, deleted scenes, outtakes and a behind the scenes featurette.

Made in Dagenham was recently nominated for four BAFTA Awards, including Outstanding British Film, Supporting Actress (Miranda Richardson), Costume Design and Make Up and Hair.

Synopsis

Set against the backdrop of the 1960s, Made in Dagenham is based on a true story about a group of spirited women who joined forces, took a stand for what was right, and, in doing so, found their own inner strength.

Although far from the Swinging Sixties of Carnaby Street, life to the women of Dagenham is tinged with the sounds and sights of the optimistic era, heard on their radios and seen on their TV sets.  Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins) reflects that upbeat era, along with her friends and co-workers at the city’s Ford Motor Factory – Sandra (Jamie Winstone), Eileen (Nicola Duffett), Brenda (Andrea Riseborough), Monica (Lorraine Stanley) and Connie (Geraldine James) – who laugh in the face of their poor conditions.  Lisa (Rosamund Pike) is a fiercely intelligent Cambridge-educated woman who feels a bit trapped, tending to the home with a husband who suggests she keep her opinions to herself.  She may not live in the same world as the other women, but she shares their views.  No one thought the revolution would come to Dagenham, until one day, it did.

Rita, who primarily sees herself as a wife and mother, is coerced into attending a meeting with shop steward Connie, sympathetic union representative Albert (Bob Hoskins) and Peter Hopkins (Rupert Graves), Ford’s Head of Industrial Relations.  What she expects to be simply a day out of work, complete with a free lunch, turns into much more when she and her colleagues become enraged by the lack of respect shown in the meeting to the women employees.

With humor, common sense and courage Rita and the other women take on their bosses, an increasingly belligerent local community and finally the government, as their intelligence and unpredictability proves to be a match for any of their male opponents.  Daring to stand up and push boundaries, the women changed a system that no one wanted to admit was broken.

BD/DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

• Commentary with Director Nigel Cole
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• “The Making of Made in Dagenham” Featurette

Made in Dagenham was directed by Nigel Cole.  Screenplay by William Ivory.  Produced by Stephen Woolley, Tim Haslam, Elizabeth Karlsen and Laurie Borg.  Starring Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Rosamund Pike and Miranda Richardson.