The Full Monty (1997) Analysis

“The Full Monty”, the 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, tells
a complex economic story for the viewer with a critical eye. The end of the story, insofar
as we can see from the movie, may appear utterly ridiculous at first glance. A group of
regular guys stripping naked and dancing seductively in front of their wives and fellow
townspeople is shocking. But these guys reached this point as a result of a variety of
circumstances that deserve some examination. In this paper, I will consider four distinct
economic phases which I believe are relevant to the characters’ lives. No particular
economic theory is sufficient to explain what happened in Sheffield, England in reality or
within the film. I will utilize various economic concepts and draw from renowned
economic thinkers to present “The Full Monty”’s economic story. First, however, it is
necessary to give a little background regarding the steel industry in northern England and
the changes that occurred there by the time of the film.
The city of Sheffield is located in South Yorkshire, England where the effects of
the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century were extremely significant. In 1856,
Henry Bessemer developed a technique in Sheffield which allowed for the mass
production of steel (Investinsheffield). This development essentially made Sheffield king
of the steel world. Its products, which included stainless steel cutlery and railroad tracks,
were shipped around Europe and across the Atlantic to America. Though both the United
States and Germany had overtaken Britain in terms of steel output by 1890, Sheffield’s
dominance in the industry continued through the middle of the twentieth century.
Through two world wars, Sheffield provided arms for Britain. By the 1960s, however,
companies such as the British Steel Corporation faced problems of outdated technology,
poor assets, high coal and oil costs, and increasing competition from the world market.
The steel industry in England was re-privatized in the 1980s, and the steel work force was
drastically cut (Citizendium). Sheffield was hit particularly hard, and the city became a
symbol for unemployment and urban blight by the 1990s. This is the context in which
“The Full Monty” is situated.
When the movie begins, the viewer is shown a 1972 video proclaiming Sheffield
as “the beating heart of Britain’s industrial north.” The economic prosperity displayed
was, in reality, already being undermined by the downfall of the steel industry twentyfive
years before the film. By 1997, Sheffield had certainly moved beyond the first
economic phase that I believe is relevant to the film. This phase was a time of productive
laborers. Karl Marx’s Capital provides the best insight into the economic conditions of
the first phase, and it is crucial to understand the phase which provides the background
and gives rise to the events of the film.
Four of the six men who make up the ‘Hot Metal’ strip act were steel workers.
They were once able to find a consumer for their physical labor. This consumer was the
owner of the steel factory. We are never introduced to the owner in the film, but we
assume that because Sheffield was a thriving center of the steel trade, a man’s laborpower
could be sold readily as a commodity on the market. These transactions can be
classified as the sale and purchase of labor-power. For Marx, labor-power was “the
aggregate of those mental and physical capabilities existing in the physical form, the
living personality, of a human being, capabilities which he sets in motion whenever he
produces a use-value of any kind” (Marx 270). A person’s use-value, like any other usevalue,
can only be realized in consumption. Therefore, a person with labor-power will
protect his ownership of this labor-power and search for the right situation in which he
can convert himself into a commodity.

East is East (1999) Analysis

In the opening scene we see straight away close up shots of Jesus statues and this then leads to a pan downwards for us to find out that in fact it is Muslims holding these Christian symbols. The camera then gives us a birds eye view of the street showing a parade for the Christian faith and that the Muslim children are part of it, which for this era was a very rare thing to see. The scene then cuts to a older Muslim man watching the parade from the side streets and shots of a British woman watching at the side of the road nervously. This automatically tells us that there is some controversy within this family and being part of different faiths. The mood in the clip changes completely when we realise the woman is their mother and exclaims ‘George is home early from the mosque.’ We can presume that this is the man we saw previously and as he has arrived home from the mosque we can recognise that he is very dedicated to his religion. As a long shot shows all the children and the mother running quickly with all their decorations, again it is highlighted how there is going to be conflict between the two faiths.The birds eye view shot then returns, showing the parade in the main street and the family running to catch up down a back road, therefore highlighting how they are not the same as the other Christians. In the two shot of the mother and father, we can see the family hiding behind making sure there not seen and again this highlights how they are worried about how their father would react to them being part of this public event.Finally, the music playing throughout is talking about how proud they are of their faith. But also the lyrics relate greatly to the father as it says ‘I wish that I could be a better man’. This falls in to place later on in the film as we realise that he is trying his best to be a good Muslim father because he made mistakes and has a British wife. Whereas he wants his children to follow the faith religiously and properly.

The scene of the kids eating meat such as bacon and sausages clearly shows how they are not dedicated Muslims and live half their life as Christians. A close up shot of each child eating a piece of meat is shown at the beginning to make it clear to the audience that this is usually forbidden. A long shot of the house empty emphasises how their father isnt home and that this would normally not be allowed if he was present. The more religious son then comes down the stairs with the use of a low angle shot to show how he’s looking down on them for giving in and eating meat. He states ‘it stinks of burnt bacon down here, dad would smell it a mile off.’ This shows that their dad would definitely not approve and consequently the son Is spraying air freshener to try and mask the smell so they don’t get caught out. As soon as there is a knock at the door, they all stop what they are doing and look at each other in surprise. This is as there could be a chance of their father coming home, until they find out it isnt him.When the girl notices her father coming up the street, a very far zoom in on him approaching emphasises that he is not far away at all and will be home soon. Diegetic sound is also used to emphasise the worry on the girls face as the violins make it very intense. The girl then screams and runs inside the house to warn the others of his arrival. Fast cuts are used to make the scene seem more manic and that they are desperate for him to not find out. The music changes to an upbeat tempo, suggesting that the future events are not going to be bad and that they are not going to get caught.

In the closing scene, we see that the sons of George have stated that they are not going to be involved in the arranged marriage and consequently the rest of the family stick up with them and everyone tells George they are unhappy.A series of fast cuts highlights how there is tension between the family and here we can notice in particularly how boundaries are being broken as the father starts to break many rules within the religion. He starts by trying to hit his wife until he is held back by his sons which would be deemed as unacceptable in their faith. He then starts swearing and using taboo language which suggests how he is giving up the act of being the good Muslim father and has lashed out on his family instead.His daughter then states ‘Are you happy now dad? Is this what you wanted?’ and this is emphasised by a high angle shot to show the differences in power between he characters and how the female is scared of her father. This links back into their religion as women are often looked down upon.The film ends with the mother and father making up in their shop where the dad says his famous quote ‘I’ll have half a cup of tea’. This highlights how he is part of two religions and is never going to be a full dedicated Muslim as his life differs from the norm greatly.