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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 407129" data-attributes="member: 23">Hillsborough (1996) <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.senscritique.com%2Fmedia%2F000006486206%2Fsource_big%2FHillsborough.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=b5922167114c458fea394b6ad3660f6eceb8a5c2242878438106ed607dcaba51&ipo=images" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 623px" /> Even as a football-averse teenager in 1989 it was impossible not to have awareness of the Hillsborough Disaster. This was a shocking and unprecedented event and some of the scenes shown on the news stayed with me and informed my dislike of crowds... especially in enclosed places. When I watched road trip documentary Ricky, Sue and A Trip Or Two earlier this year, the pair spoke about Hillsborough with great passion. Both actors had become involved in the campaign for justice for the survivors and families of those killed and I was shocked to be reminded that the killings weren't ruled as unlawful until 2016... over a quarter of a century after the tragedy. That context helped me to be aware going in that this film was made relatively early on in the grand scheme of things, when those affected were living with the injustice of the "accidental death" verdict. Up to this point, the Jimmy McGovern material I've seen has been fiction - albeit with very realistic writing. It's fascinating to see his work on a piece based on real events. Evidently he was asked to do so by two women whose children had been killed at Hillsborough and he went on to interview families of victims, becoming so angry at the injustice that he feared it might skew his writing and brought in another writer to ensure this didn't happen. The film captures that feeling of preparations for attending an event. The thrill of the tickets arriving. Travelling to the venue. The buzz upon arrival. The crowds. The noises. The gates opening. For whatever reason I was thinking the film would begin after the event and focus primarily on the inquest, skipping over the horror of what happened at the stadium. Looking back, I can see how necessary it was to show the events of that day almost piece by piece in order to understand every error of judgement made by those responsible for the safety of the spectators, as well as the disorientation and confusion of those in attendance. The crowd scenes must have been an absolute nightmare to film and as things begin to escalate they effectively created an anxiety-provoking uneasiness that was almost suffocating. The film was quite the journey all round. As I watched things unfold, I felt horrified by the events, sad at the losses and the lack of closure and indignities which came from trying to escape, to get medical aid, then to find lost family members or identify their bodies. This turned to anger as police were shown to cover up with orders not to write anything in their notebooks and questioning relatives about how much their dead relative had been drinking. The invasive mercenary tabloid journalists photographing the shaken bereaved who had just found out the news of loved ones' deaths, and banging on the front doors of their homes as they mourned. Then came the headlines telling of anti-social behaviour and drunken pitch invasions. The film effectively showed the damage caused by the misinformation and outright untruths. The cast was wonderful. Again, there were lots of familiar faces. Jimmy McGovern favourites Ricky Tomlinson and Christopher Eccleston are present. There are also coughs and spits from Ricky's Brookie compatriots Bill Dean (last seen in Priest) and Cliff Howells (playing a paramedic, which makes a change from a fireman). Other familiars ranged from Emperor Palpatine to Les Battersby. Hillsborough won BAFTAs for Best Single Drama, Best Editing and Best Sound (which I'm sure pleased Jimmy Mac given his penchant for writing in background noise. This film in particular had a lot of layered dialogue, with two or more conversations going on at once and people speaking or shouting over one another). I'd guess perhaps its biggest achievement was once again raising the consciousness of the injustice to the point where the inquiry could be reopened. In fact, the Stuart-Smith scrutiny was underway within a year. It's a beautiful, powerful piece that also serves as a historical document. The case moved forwards massively since the film was made, but the context given and the stories told here only make it feel more relevant than ever.</blockquote>

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