The Navigators (film)
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French DVD cover
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| Directed by | Ken Loach |
| Produced by | Rebecca O'Brien |
| Written by | Rob Dawber |
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| Music by | George Fenton |
| Cinematography | Barry Ackroyd |
| Edited by | Jonathan Morris |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
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| Language | English |
The Navigators is a 2001 British film directed by Ken Loach with screenplay by Rob Dawber.
It tells the story of the reactions of five Sheffield rail workers to the privatisation of the railway maintenance organisation for which they all work, and the consequences for them. The film was inspired by the failure of the Connex South Central and the Connex South Eastern franchises: Connex lost both franchises because of poor service.
Rob Dawber received the 2001 BAFTA award (posthumously) for "New Writer" for the film.
The film follows five railway workers – John, Paul, Mick, Gerry and Len – in a Yorkshire depot affected by the privatisation of British Rail in 1995. The men are informed by their supervisor that they are now working for a company called East Midlands Infrastructure, and are competing with rival track companies.
On a maintenance job, one of the workers is sent away because his depot is now owned by a rival firm. His departure leaves the rest of the crew unable to finish the job. The railwaymen are introduced to their new managing director, Mr Hemmings, by watching a video about the "age of change" in Britain's rail industry. Hemmings says that the culture will change too, and the days of a job for life are over, though new opportunities have arisen for those prepared to take the initiative. East Midlands Infrastructure is renamed Gilchrist Engineering.
Gerry argues with his boss about procedures being imposed without consultation. Management make a concession that the crew points out is no concession at all. The Managing Director visits the depot in person, and demands that, since "the slate has been wiped clean", there must be no concessions or agreements, forcing the supposed concession to be withdrawn.
To the railwaymen's surprise, they are ordered to destroy their old equipment with sledgehammers as it no longer meets current standards. They are interrupted with news of a derailment at Dore. There they meet a former colleague, Len, who is working for an agency and earning much more than he did with the company.
After his pay is reduced to pay for additional child support, Paul agrees to take voluntary redundancy and join an agency. John follows suit. Mick and Gerry try to talk them out of it, pointing out that they will lose any job security. However, the few remaining Gilchrist employees are soon notified that the depot is no longer competitive and will be closed. They are given twelve weeks' notice of their redundancy.
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Wikipedia