Movie Archive

Sheffield is known primarily as a steel town, with a successful steel industry that goes back hundreds of years. As the city has modernised and diversified in the last couple of decades a number of other industries have been developed in and around Sheffield. While it is certainly no Hollywood, there have been a few movies of note that have been set in Sheffield, giving it a definite place in the film history of the United Kingdom. Most of the movies that have come out of Sheffield have been related to the steel industry, if only in an abstract kind of way. While there may not be many movies with scenes in the steel mills themselves, the environment of the city that exists because of the steel industry is often a big part of these movies. The Full Monty may be the most famous modern day example of a movie set in Sheffield that uses its atmospheric setting almost like another character, however there are many others examples of note as well.

Sheffield has been a world renowned industrial centre for a long time now, with a few very important modern industrial innovations having taken place within the city. The process of crucible steel and silver plated cutlery were both invented in Sheffield, and the crucible process especially was a huge milestone in the history of steel work. This atmosphere of industrialisation, Prefabricated Garages (Fertiggaragen) and the working class population that fuel these industries have been the subject matter of a few very good, and a few not so good films. The Full Monty is one of the best examples, as it was a very popular film that made a good use of the Sheffield environment and its people.

The Full Monty was made in 1997 and tells the story of six unemployed men and their adventures in becoming a male striptease act. This highly unlikely storyline worked like a treat due to great acting and a fantastic screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. Four of the six men in the film were former steelworkers who were now unemployed due to a deterioration in the Sheffield steel industry. The way that the movie sets up Sheffield as its location is very well done, with the opening narration claiming ‘Sheffield….the beating heart of Britain’s industrial north’. A short film during the opening credits documents the successful nature of the industry during the 70s, showing busy workers and steel mills alongside some busy nightlife and retail shops in the city. This short movie finishes with the quote ‘thanks to steel, Sheffield really is a city on the move’. The movie then flashes forward 25 years to a situation where the steel mills have stopped and many of the local men are unemployed and bored. It is this difference between the city in two different periods that is used to great effect in this movie; and it truly could not be set in any other place than Sheffield.

Some other movies that have been set in Sheffield are perhaps less well known than the Full Monty. The movie ‘F.I.S.T’ starring Sylvester Stallone had a few beginning scenes set in Sheffield, as did the movie ‘The Navigators’. The director Ken Loach made a few films that were set in Sheffield and other parts of north England, including ‘The Price Of Coal’. Some other notable movies set in the city include ‘Among Giants’, ‘Blood’ and ‘Dream’. While Sheffield will probably be known as a steel city for a long time yet, there is more to it than cutlery and door motors (Torantriebe). The steel industry has produced a culture and people that have grown in parallel to the industrialisation of the city, and have been the inspiration for some great movie characters over the years.