The Battle of Ogreave

Mike Figgis and Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Ogreave is a well-made documentary that uses both the physical and emotional hardships that this strike causes to share an unbiased view of the events. The media at the time of the events shared biased information that stated that the pickets began the first charge, when in reality it was the police. During the event itself, each side had its own flaws in tactics. It is interesting how the video uses the re-enactment along with interviews from ex-miners, policemen, and one man that was both a miner and policeman at one point to share the many descriptions. This man from both opposing sides shared answers that were very conflicting, since it betrayed his family while staying with the police. The picketers constantly chanted, “the miners united can never be defeated,” but in reality the issue should have represented all workers. All workers should have been involved because this battle was truly “winners take it all,” and the workers lost many benefits as well as rights. The miners ended up losing not just the fight, but also family ties and even their house for some. The ex-miners in the re-enactment still showed emotional effects of the event 20 years later as some would get out of hand, and the men acting as police were “scared” behind the shields and began to charge toward the opposition.

The use of original footage and photographs with the interviewers’ stories causes the audience to become emotionally attached to the story. The lack of communication and manipulation of media caused a lot of turmoil. This was the case for much of the video, Four More Years since both sides of the story were never shared with the other side. Deller and Figgis did a good job of capturing the entire atmosphere that surrounded the events of the battle of ogreave with “no spin on things” in either biased view. It plainly delivered the event in an overview, letting the audience decide who are the good and bad guys.