response 9: Deller's "The Battle of Orgreave"

The Battle of Orgreave was a really interesting video. Even the beginning of the video caught my eye; it was really strong and powerful, especially when the mass rush of miners charged into the police's plastic shield wall. It was so tremendous it felt like it was the actual event. When the former miners were talking about reenacting the event, they sounded really excited and were looking forward to doing it, which suprised me. I would think that they would not want to reenact a horrible past they did not win. But who I think was Deller in the video said that it was not about healing wounds nor being ashamed or afraid of what happened. It was about confronting it and settling what still needed to be settled. I really liked that aspect of the video, about having them face this event that they rarely talk about. The reenactment was so strong even though it was a reenactment; the music in the background, the chanting, and the banging on the shields made it even more powerful and intense. I think that it was really good that they tried to be as accurate as possible, even though they really could not capture every detail of the event. It brought back a lot of memories for them and for some those memories needed to be put in the past. Some do not see why it should be reenacted because it will not solve anything. I think that it of course will not solve anything but it is still a good idea to at least acknowledge that that event did take place. By reenacting it, the event could be recognized and could be talked about. It was "easy to get swept up in it" which is part of the reason why the miners are reenacting it. For some of the miners, they played the roles of the cops, the "other side," which I think was a good aspect of the reenactment because they got to see the other side. They got to see the miners coming closer and closer, and how that must have been really frightening for the cops that they faced in 1984-85. But overall I really like the video and the fact that it was a documentary not only on the event but also in trying to make the reenactment. What I like most though was the part at the end when the little girl was chanting too, which could be thought of as a foreshadow of another confrontation in the future.