By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: David Moorst | Maxine Peake | Pearce Quigley | Rachel Finnegan | Rory Kinnear | Simona Bitmate | Tom Meredith
Country: united_kingdom
Year: 2019
Running time: 154
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4614612/reference
Thom says: “This film appears to have been critically overlooked by almost everyone. Mike Leigh has to be considered one of the greatest directors currently working and his huge number of top-rated gems with me rings in at 13, including all 3 of his previous period pieces TOPSY TURVY, VERA DRAKE, & MR. TURNER. And yet, he’s mainly known for his mysteriously charming comedies about lower-middle-class types with a ton of problems going through emotional upheavals, yet with a touch of decency. He really created his own genre of films and amazingly kick-started the careers of many UK current superstars including Jim Broadbent, Sally Hawkins, Imelda Staunton, Brenda Blethyn, Lesley Manville, David Threlfall, Alison Steadman, Timothy Spall, Tim Roth, Alfred Molina, Gary Oldman, Stephen Rea, Jane Horrocks, David Thewlis, Ewen Bremner, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, & Eddie Marsan. So already he had shown his mastery in almost everything he tackled, and yet this film, with nearly every scene having the reverence of a Rembrandt painting, becomes a little too lackadaisical in its approach. The film centers around the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre where British military troops fired upon a pro-democracy rally at St. Peter’s Field in Manchester with no provocation , but so ordered by the corrupt, indifferent officials. Since the following occurrences offered not a shred of evidence for such an abominable action nor any compensation the story is an ugly blot on English history. While individual scenes stood-out in great relief, since the outcome was never in doubt the slow pace worked against it. My brother who idolizes Leigh eventually stopped watching.”