This film is part of Free
Enginemen
This poetic Free Cinema documentary, filmed near Manchester, reflects on the changing world of the engineman.
Overview
Produced just in time to be screened under the banner of the lateβ1950s βFree Cinemaβ documentary movement, Enginemen records the life and work of engine workers in a locomotive shed just outside Manchester. At the time of British Railwaysβ changeover from steam to diesel, the film explores their sense of loss and frustration with poetry and compassion, but shorn of sentimentality.
Completed with the help of a small grant from the British Film Institute, it was the first film produced by Unit Five Seven, a collective of young Granada Television technicians led by 22βyearβold Michael Grigsby β later a major figure in TV documentary β filming at weekends over 18 months with little more than a 16mm camera and a tape recorder. Like earlier Free Cinema films by the likes of Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson, Enginemen employs an impressionist disconnection between what we hear and what we see, shunning voiceβover commentary. For instance, as the camera pans across the canteen room, focusing on the menβs bewildered faces, we hear some of them describing how they feel about the coming of diesel engine with a hint of nostalgia.
Related
Mining Review 19th Year No. 11 Mining Review 19th Year No. 11
1966 11 mins Location: Castleford
Coal touched all our lives, as this issue of the cinemagazine demonstrates with items on a miner's wife turned mayor, a Coal Board chess team and more.
Great Northern Railway Works at Doncaster (1901) Great Northern Railway Works at Doncaster (1901)
Documentary 1900 6 mins Silent Location: Doncaster
Countless men, women and children spill out on to the screen from "The Plant" at the heart of the Yorkshire railway town.
Severn Valley Railway Severn Valley Railway
News 1976 7 mins Location: Bridgnorth
Is Chris Tarrant up to shovelling a ton and a half of coal to keep the fire burning and the steam up between Bridgnorth and Bewdley?
Repairing Track After Mustard Gas Attack Repairing Track After Mustard Gas Attack
Industry sponsored film 1939 45 mins Silent Location: Northampton
With the horrific effects of gas warfare still fresh in the memory, rubberised men β like extras from a 1950s British sci fi movie β prepare for more, with 1940s attention to detail.
Railways - Derelict and Preserved Railways - Derelict and Preserved
Amateur film 1975 33 mins Silent Location: Rainhill
Come and see Rocket 150, and visit a selection of railway locations, past and preserved.
Employees Leaving Furness Railway Works, Barrow (1901) Employees Leaving Furness Railway Works, Barrow (1901)
Non-Fiction 1901 1 mins Silent Location: Barrow-In-Furness
An all-male Edwardian crowd is filmed leaving work in the north western town.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archiveβs role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.
New Perspectives: Oldboy New Perspectives: Oldboy
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Discover why Dan George of Northumbria University believes everyone should experience Oldboy at least once.
New Perspectives: Wings of Desire New Perspectives: Wings of Desire
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Trixie Parkin-Christie of Northumbria University offers fresh insight into why Wings of Desire remains essential viewing.