Remembrance is a British ensemble drama about

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ratings of HMS ''Raleigh'', who are about to embark on a six-month

naval exercise A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

. The film is noteworthy for early appearances of several well-known British actors, including

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall ( ; born 27 February 1957) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his character actor roles on stage and screen. In 2000, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. S ...

, Lisa Maxwell, John Altman and

Gary Oldman Sir Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Gary Oldman, various accolades, including an Academ ...

in his film debut. It was an early production from Channel Four Films and was shown on 10 November 1982 on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. It was also one of the first films in the UK to be shown on television less than three years after its initial cinema release (a delay enforced at the time by the Cinema Exhibitors' Association).

Plot

The film does not have a simple plot, but rather cuts between the interweaving stories of several characters, as they prepare for the coming months away at sea. The action centres around the bars and clubs of the Union Street district of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. One major event that affects all the characters is the hospitalisation and eventual death of Daniel (

) after a violent assault by a nightclub bouncer.

Production

Gregg got the idea for the film from his own experiences as a student at Plymouth Art College. It was largely shot on location, including interior scenes in two Union Street pubs, ''The Phoenix'' and ''The Two Trees''''.'' The film was commissioned by

, before the channel had started broadcasting and was aired in the first week of the new channel in early November 1982, close to

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

. Unusually for the time, the film had been given a cinema preview in June 1982 at the ''Screen on the Hill'' cinema in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

. This was a purely opportunistic enterprise, taking advantage of the prominent role that the Royal Navy had played in the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

to gain publicity for the film (and the upcoming launch of Channel 4), but it turned out to be a significant event in the relationship between cinema and television in the UK. In ''Independent Television in Britain'' (Volume 6, 2003), Paul Bonner and Lesley Aston note that:

Cast

Soundtrack

The film uses

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

as incidental music.

Reception

's regulator, the

Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...

(IBA), raised concerns about gratuitous use of swearing in the script. The film won the Golden Charybdis Award at the 1982 Taormina International Film Festival.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title
Remembrance
at the BFI 1982 films British drama films Films set in Devon Films shot in Devon 1980s English-language films 1980s British films Films about landlords