Pitmen Painters...

[skynyc]

I saw The Pitman Painters on Thursday last week and was really looking forward to it. It had gotten great reviews in London and the entire British cast was reprising their roles here. And it was written by the guy who wrote the book for Billy Elliot which, to my mind, was the best creative part of that show.

 

LOTS OF SPOILERS HERE!

 

Well, I am very glad to have seen Pitmen because for the most part I thought it was excellent. The characters are interesting and it was fun to see how different the personalities are. It takes the true story of a bunch of coal miners who, through their union representative who feels that it would be good to expand their lives, sign up for an art appreciation class. But when the teacher shows up, he quickly realizes that it's impossible to teach art appreciation to a bunch of fellows who have never seen a painting, have never been in a museum and don't know the first thing about "art." So instead, he gives them paints and tells them to paint themselves.

 

Over the course of the next few years, they become quite talented and also quite a sensation. I did find that some of dialogue and observations of some of these self-professed "not so bright" guys...most of whom left school at age 10 to go to work in the mine...seemed a little too sophisticated in terms of theme and perspective, but at the same time it made me wonder if, in a society where there was basically no media at all, that the art of conversation would force folks to improve just out of sheer boredom. I mean, they briefly mention not getting a good signal on the "wireless", and of course there was no TV and it didn't sound like they went to the movies either.

 

There was a very interesting subplot about a local noblewoman who tried to become the patron to one of the more talented painters and they talked about the differences of the life of an artist vs. the life of a "real" person, etc.

 

And of course when the men are at the height of their popularity, they talk somewhat arrogantly about those that can paint and those that can't...and then as their popularity wanes, they are resentful, etc.

 

All in all, I liked it better than both RED and ART, although many of the themes were the same.

 

My only problem is that the last ten minutes...the last scene...it all kind of fell apart. Suddenly mining politics, which were thematically minor throughout, took center stage. In fact, the show became too much like Billy Elliot. I suspect the critics are going to hammer them on this, because an American audience doesn't have the same connection to this socialistic conversion of the mines, and the subsequent end of that, which ended the mining industry in Britain. I wished the show had ended on a more artistic note, literally.

 

So, while I really liked the first 150 minutes the last ten minutes kind of spoiled the show as a whole. Like having a mediocre dessert after a sensational meal, it left an unsatisfying taste. But after a week, I primarily recall how good the "entree" was and can recommend it.

 

Pitmen Painters is an offering of the Manhattan Theater Club and will have a limited run (thru 12/12) at the Friedman Theater (formerly the Biltmore). There are several offers out there and it has also been on tdf.