A strike by female workers, which led to the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in the UK (and similar legislation in other countries), is the subject of 'Made in Dagenham'. The film provides a spirited (and partisan, though generally believable) account of the women's struggle; and a portrait of 1960s life a long way from the classical image of "swinging London". There's some melodrama, and a comic book portrayal of Harold Wilson, but it's generally a convincing and ultimately uplifting story, and an unusual one for modern sympathies, in that the trade unions are (more or less) shown fighting the good fight. However, in highlighting a struggle against such an obvious injustice, the film only partially makes a more general point: that unionism is always ugly (in that it concerns the promotion of a sectional interest to the detriment of the whole), but can still be a good thing if the section it represents cannot otherwise be heard. When that section is as large as 50% of the population, the point seems obvious; but it's just as true when the interest is narrower (but still neglected). The film's credits are shown interspersed with interviews with some of the women involved, and it did make me wonder if a documentary might not ultimately have proved more enlightening. Overall, though, the film did its job of showing how our world has changed in the last 40 years; and in some ways, for the better.
Review of Made in Dagenham
