We Want Sex

Films about the British working class tend to be a bit depressing and gloomy. But films like "Whole or Nothing" have proven that there is another way. Nigel Cole, director of "Grass Whisper" and "Calendar Girls", now also takes a cheerfully melancholic look at an important period in the history of equal rights for women and men: the 1968 strike by women workers in the English car town of Dagenham.

The conditions under which Rita (Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky") and her female colleagues are forced to work day after day on the factory floor of the British Ford works in Dagenham are not exactly pleasant. Stuffy air, unbearable heat and low wages increase the discontent of the 187 women who sew the seats together for the cars. When the company management wants to downgrade them to unskilled workers, the women workers are furious: they demand equal pay for equal work. But they are soon met with stiff resistance not only from the management, but also from the men, who at first only smiled at the women's industrial action. But when the industrial action becomes a national issue, Rita and her colleagues get unexpected help...

"We want Sex" skilfully blends British humour, intelligent wordplay and drama into a whole worth seeing. As with "Calendar Girls" and "Grass Whispers", the focus here is once again on simple, rather unassuming women who rise above themselves in a crisis situation to become real-life heroines. Like the women of Dagenham themselves, it is only at the end of the film that the audience really realises the far-reaching consequences this industrial action has had for women across the country and, later, across Europe. It's nice that Cole has deliberately kept his film small despite this great significance. The fate of individual women is the focus here, and it's their very personal stories that drive this film, not the big picture that didn't really reveal itself until two years later, with an Equal Rights Act in 1970.

The cast, in addition to the beautiful story and wonderful 1960s set, once again contribute a lot to the film's success. It is very pleasing to see Sally Hawkins here depart significantly from her somewhat penetrating performance in "Happy-Go-Lucky", which she had only slightly varied in "Desert Flower", and deliver a much more restrained performance appropriate to her character. She is supported by a wonderful ensemble, from which a once again great Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson as a tough politician, ex-Bondgirl Rosamund Pike and Geraldine James ("Calendar Girls") especially stand out. They all transport the wonderful dialogues from William Ivory's first screenplay onto the screen in a first-class way and make "We want Sex", despite its numerous dramatic and also sad moments, a very big feel-good film that not only, but especially women will have a lot of fun with. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp