'Hillsborough is an in-depth, moving account of Britain's worst sporting disaster, in which 96 men, women and children were killed, hundreds injured and thousands traumatised. Beginning with that fateful day, 15 April 1989, the film details the horror of the tragedy, told through the experiences of those directly involved: fans, survivors, family members and police officers. Many speak publicly for the first time. It captures the horror of the crush on the terraces, revealing the prejudices held by the police towards football fans. It exposes the police commanders' abject failure in leadership as the tragedy unfolded, and their deceit and determination to deflect responsibility for their failures in crowd management onto those who survived. The documentary exposes the lack of dignity shown to bereaved families as they arrived in Sheffield to identify their loved ones laid out in body bags on a gymnasium floor. It considers the impact of the orchestrated vilification of fans in the media and, as a consequence, their public condemnation. By interviewing those involved, it recounts the 27-year campaign for justice fought on behalf of the 96 who died.' That is the summary already on IMDb, I couldn't have worded it better myself so it made sense to copy and paste it.
I believe that the majority of this TV show was created several years ago and aired in other countries, however it was not licenced to be shown in the UK due to the ongoing Hillsborough inquest. Now that inquest is over and justice has been served, the TV show has had extra footage added to it and was broadcast on the BBC in the UK. I had seen snippets of the show on Youtube so when I heard a full feature length, two hour show was to be broadcast, I ensured that I sat down to watch it in full.
I was quite clued up on Hillsborough before watching this, I had a pretty strong knowledge on the day's events and the cover-up which followed the day for almost 30 years. My girlfriend however has much less of an understanding and watching this documentary certainly educated her and gave her a much stronger idea of the whole story. The show is structured well, it covers a little on pre Hillsborough, previous games with crowd trouble and the appointment of Duckinfield only months earlier. We then see the day unfold told through supporters who were there, Police officers and journalists. After that, we see stories from family members of the victims, they tell us about the day and the weeks after and the atrocious support that was offered by the police. The final quarter which has been added on for the UK broadcast shows us the court trial and the fight for justice, a fitting and rewarding end to such a harrowing programme.
We are shown plenty of footage from the tragic day, from the original broadcast to CCTV footage. Thankfully the very graphic images are shown but are distorted as I fear they would have been too upsetting. A lot of the footage we are shown though is very upsetting and hard-hitting.
The documentary is well put together and is told in a clear, chronological order making it very easy to follow all events easily. The interviews that also narrate the show are harrowing and uneasy to listen to at times. The sense of warranted anger and aggression in these people voices is very upsetting. I'm not a fan of the re-enactment, nothing specifically about this documentary, just in general. I can see the benefit of it I just feel it takes some of the authenticity away from the subject matter with poor acting. From the very start it is clear that this documentary is aimed at the Police and Government for their cover-up attempt. I found myself getting more and more annoyed and gobsmacked the more the show went on. The more we find out about the cover-up attempt the more shocking it is, it really is astonishing that it took this long for the truth to come out and for justice to be served.
I would have liked to have seen more of when the families finally received their justice; this part of the documentary didn't feel long enough to me. After the upset and general horribleness which filled up the majority of the documentary, it would have felt a little nicer to be able to see more of what it actually meant to them to finally get what they have been fighting over 27 years for.
Overall, Hillsborough is a very tough watch and if you are to view it then please be aware of the disturbing and distressing scenes. I have a huge amount of respect for the families and friends of the victims who continually fought and fought for justice all these years. I cannot even comprehend the trauma they went through, it is a sickening thought. Hillsborough changed football forever, it saw an end to the 'dark days of football', sadly it shouldn't have needed something as tragic as this to happen for those days to be left behind. That day was completely preventable, it should never have happened; warning signs were there from years gone past and the handling of the situation on the day lead to the deaths of 96 innocent people. How very, very sad.
9/10
I believe that the majority of this TV show was created several years ago and aired in other countries, however it was not licenced to be shown in the UK due to the ongoing Hillsborough inquest. Now that inquest is over and justice has been served, the TV show has had extra footage added to it and was broadcast on the BBC in the UK. I had seen snippets of the show on Youtube so when I heard a full feature length, two hour show was to be broadcast, I ensured that I sat down to watch it in full.
I was quite clued up on Hillsborough before watching this, I had a pretty strong knowledge on the day's events and the cover-up which followed the day for almost 30 years. My girlfriend however has much less of an understanding and watching this documentary certainly educated her and gave her a much stronger idea of the whole story. The show is structured well, it covers a little on pre Hillsborough, previous games with crowd trouble and the appointment of Duckinfield only months earlier. We then see the day unfold told through supporters who were there, Police officers and journalists. After that, we see stories from family members of the victims, they tell us about the day and the weeks after and the atrocious support that was offered by the police. The final quarter which has been added on for the UK broadcast shows us the court trial and the fight for justice, a fitting and rewarding end to such a harrowing programme.
We are shown plenty of footage from the tragic day, from the original broadcast to CCTV footage. Thankfully the very graphic images are shown but are distorted as I fear they would have been too upsetting. A lot of the footage we are shown though is very upsetting and hard-hitting.
The documentary is well put together and is told in a clear, chronological order making it very easy to follow all events easily. The interviews that also narrate the show are harrowing and uneasy to listen to at times. The sense of warranted anger and aggression in these people voices is very upsetting. I'm not a fan of the re-enactment, nothing specifically about this documentary, just in general. I can see the benefit of it I just feel it takes some of the authenticity away from the subject matter with poor acting. From the very start it is clear that this documentary is aimed at the Police and Government for their cover-up attempt. I found myself getting more and more annoyed and gobsmacked the more the show went on. The more we find out about the cover-up attempt the more shocking it is, it really is astonishing that it took this long for the truth to come out and for justice to be served.
I would have liked to have seen more of when the families finally received their justice; this part of the documentary didn't feel long enough to me. After the upset and general horribleness which filled up the majority of the documentary, it would have felt a little nicer to be able to see more of what it actually meant to them to finally get what they have been fighting over 27 years for.
Overall, Hillsborough is a very tough watch and if you are to view it then please be aware of the disturbing and distressing scenes. I have a huge amount of respect for the families and friends of the victims who continually fought and fought for justice all these years. I cannot even comprehend the trauma they went through, it is a sickening thought. Hillsborough changed football forever, it saw an end to the 'dark days of football', sadly it shouldn't have needed something as tragic as this to happen for those days to be left behind. That day was completely preventable, it should never have happened; warning signs were there from years gone past and the handling of the situation on the day lead to the deaths of 96 innocent people. How very, very sad.
9/10
