Peterloo

Year:	2018
Country:	UK
Language:	English
Genre:	Drama, History
IMDB:	IMDB Page
Rating:	8.0 Rate
Collection:	Seen It Wishlist
Community:	5 Have Seen


Director	Mike Leigh
Selected Cast	Rory Kinnear as Henry Hunt
	Maxine Peake as Nellie
	Pearce Quigley as Joshua
	David Moorst as Joseph
	Neil Bell as Samuel Bamford
	Vincent Franklin as Magistrate Rev. Ethelston
Producer	Georgina Lowe
Writer	Mike Leigh
Soundtrack	Gary Yershon

Images

Comments and Reviews


vollmann1969 11th Sep 2021		... where proud and preening aristocracy and ruling classes overtaxed, and under served the struggling people ... No change there then ... Great film. Thank you for your review Magic.



Magic Marmalade 23rd Aug 2021		Rated 8/10 An extraordinary film. An historical piece, which serves to record a shameful event in British history, it centres around the immediate aftermath of the victory at Waterloo, where proud and preening aristocracy and ruling classes overtaxed, and underserved the struggling people of Manchester, Lancashire, who having basically delivered this victory through the expense of their blood, sweat, and indeed, tears, were all but forgotten in their demands for some basic subsistence, and the representation in Parliament that would give it to them... ....Naturally, they began to get more than a little agitated, and were threatening to rise up against their government if they did not get what they wanted. The uncaring government, and the subordinate landed gentry, Industrial magnates and company sought to "Quell" this unrest by sending the Yeomanry (Soldiers / police of their day) to supress and disperse an event held in St. Peter's Field, where the ordinary people of the towns and villages had gathered to hear Henry Hunt speak concerning their rights, and it ended up with an overzealous cavalry charge through a crowd of men, women, and children that left 18 people dead... and so was recorded as the "Peterloo Massacre" of 1819 thereafter by the media of the day. While this is one of those historical stories that is basically no more than a short article's worth to convey the essential facts, Mike Leigh delves deeper, by fleshing out the story with characters representing the people of the time and place, in a series of home-stead conversations, and set piece public speaking events. ...It is presented, therefore, as a series of discussions a lot like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, with each conversation more like a small treatise on Civil Rights and Liberties, from home spun philosophies to great speeches and pronouncements on the subject, all leading up to the titular catastrophe, and which serve to give it context, and underline it. This is not a conventional "drama", or period piece therefore, and is a thinking person's film, like a mediation on civil rights.... a "speaky" - "Talky" film.... ...A serious study of a serious subject. There is no music score, only the occasional piece of contemporary folk music played by characters in the film, and each frame of this movie is shot like an old oil painting by Rembrandt, or Vermeer... truly stunning cinematography! The "everyday-ness", and ordinariness of the characters, in presenting them as people you might know, and speak to them, and their almost festive mood on the occasion of a day out to journey to the event only serves to heighten the horror of the final disaster, as it too, is unscored, and filled with only the awfulness of the various screams, and random, jutting movements of horses, people and soldiers flashing across the screen in the grim confusion of the situation as the mood turns, and it descends into hideous chaos. An important film, therefore, and one which people, especially here in Britain ought to see, although wherever you are in the world, it's themes and events may be all too Universally understood. If there is a criticism I have of it, it's that the film ends rather too abruptly... with no follow up of what becomes of the various characters, almost like they've served their purpose, in telling the story, then ditched... even though they have been well built up, and moulded by the actors through the rest of the film.... seems a little callous, and odd, given the movie itself is about the indifference of some sections of society toward others. Would make a nice double feature, by way of contrast, to more mannered and reverential: The Madness Of King George... or maybe Blackadder III, as these also feature fat git parasite The Prince Regent (Later: George IV :). 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Add a Comment or Review about this movie

This Movie: Add Image : Add Video : Add Missing Info : Make Correction : Add to List : Add See Also : Add Tag : Edit Images : Show Image Data : Credits : BBCode