In place of his usual chamber dramas and comedies, filmmaker Mike Leigh invades cinematic territory generally dominated by the social-consciousness workof countryman Ken Loach with this strong depiction of a key historical moment in England 200 years back, the sort not taught in school where I grew up (Cleveland, Ohio).
It has as much relevance today at that closer-to-home massacre at Kent State, showing in vivid detail the life and times of struggling to survive Manchester folk, assembling peaceably for a rally for universal suffrage and democratic representation. They are mowed down by the authorities, as Leigh shows us the awful tyranny and decadence of authoritarian types, hardly exaggerated when compared to the daily arrogance and misbehavior of our Pres. Trump.
The visual style reminded me of the beauty of Peter Hall's "Akenfield", one of my favorite serious movies of the '70s, that I was privileged to see at the London Film Festival, and of course the message and militancy have often been indelibly presented by leftist Italian filmmakers, ranging from the Tavianis' "Allonsanfan" to Bertolucci's "1900". All of these date to the '70s, a period of ferment and innovation and cinema we could use today.
Some brilliant acting among the distinctive faces chosen for the cast include as villains: Karl Johnson and David Bamber, or the forceful good guys ranging from orator Roy Kinnear to the solid as a rock mom Maxine Peake.
One bit of irony, I'm sure not lost on Leigh himself, is the British film being funded by Amazon, clearly a corporation of disruption (akin to the movie's industrial revolution culprit of weaving machines), but a method of facilitating the show's wonderful production values.
