2001THE BATTLE OF ORGREAVE

COMMENT

This is both a recording of Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller's spectacular 2001 reconstruction of a crucial battle in the Miner's Strike of 1984-85, and a documentary about the original battle and strike. Whilst Deller operates the event on the ground, director Mike Figgis documents the build up to the day and the event itself.

In 1984 the National Union of Mineworkers went on strike. The dispute lasted for over a year and was the most bitterly fought since the general strike of 1926, marking a turning point in the struggle between the government and the trade union movement. On the 18 June 1984 at the Orgreave coking plant one of the strike's most violent confrontations began in a field close to the plant and culminated in a cavalry charge through the village of Orgreave.

The film is extremely powerful. Ex-miners return to their former battleground to relive a moment in the destruction of their livelihoods and community. As well as containing multiple personal narratives the film also attempts a wider social history of the 1980s, particularly trying to correct loaded media portrayals of the time. As well as ex-miners and ex-policemen, Deller's reconstruction uses members of amateur historical re-enactment groups, giving a shocking authenticity to the fighting. The truncheon blows and the bloodthirsty shouting is filmed to great effect, captured with a mix of wobbly handheld cameras in the melee and further cameras with better vantage points.

An impressive and original documentary, it doesn't shirk from leaving a bitter aftertaste. If this was another English Civil War, these South Yorkshire men were firmly on the losing side and Deller and Figgis make it clear that after the fun of the reconstruction, they must return to decaying pit villages and nursed regrets.

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