In 1992, the Tory Government is preparing to close down the coal pits in Grimley, a small town in North Yorkshire where mining is the main industry. Meanwhile, the local colliery brass band led by Danny (Pete Postlethwaite) practices for an upcoming competition. A boost is given to this all-male group when Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald), the granddaughter of the former bandleader, returns to town and joins their numbers playing the flugelhorn. She is reunited with Andy (Ewan McGregor), an old boyfriend. Although the band wins a national semi-final competition, its members' spirits are dashed upon learning that their peers have voted to accept redundancy pay instead of protesting the pit closing. Danny is hospitalized, suffering from black lung disease, and his debt-ridden son Phil (Stephen Tompkinson) has an emotional breakdown when his wife leaves him. To make matters even worse, one of the miners (Philip Jackson) finds out that Gloria is working for the British Coal Board. However, when she realizes that her boss was just using her, she takes the money she made and uses it to get the band to the final competition in Albert Hall.
Written and directed by Mark Herman, Brassed Off is a stirring film about losing your job and reclaiming your soul. Even though unemployment is one of the most devastating tragedies of our time, survival and hope are always available to us through creativity and community. The surprising finale of Brassed Off reveals how the Grimley band enables its members to hold on to their souls when all else is going against them. This flinty British film will lift your spirits with its jubilent finale..