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''Peterloo'' is a 2018 British
historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
, written and directed by Mike Leigh, based on the
Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Eighteen people died and 400–700 were injured when the cavalry of the Yeomen charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who ...
of 1819. The film was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival. The film received its UK premiere on 17 October 2018, as part of the BFI London Film Festival, at
HOME A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. The screening marked the first time that the festival had held a premiere outside London. Leigh said he was delighted that ''Peterloo'' would be premiered "where it happened". It was released in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2018, by Entertainment One and in the United States on 5 April 2019, by Amazon Studios.


Background

The film ''Peterloo'' marks the 200th anniversary of the notorious
Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Eighteen people died and 400–700 were injured when the cavalry of the Yeomen charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who ...
. On 16 August 1819, a crowd of some 60,000 people from Manchester and surrounding towns gathered in St Peter's Fields to demand Parliamentary reform and an extension of voting rights. At that time, Manchester had no members of parliament of its own while the whole of
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
was represented by two county MPs and middle and working class men and all women were denied voting rights. The meeting was peaceful but the armed government militias charged the crowd on the pretext of an attempt to arrest a leader of the meeting. The behaviour of the crowd & toll of casualties was disputed but as many as 18 people were killed and up to 700 wounded. After the massacre the government immediately launched a crackdown on public assembly and electoral reforms on the pretext that the country was heading towards armed rebellion. The outcry led to the founding of the ''
Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and played a significant role in the passage through Parliament of the
Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...
which extended the franchise to 'head of household' middle-class men.


Plot

After the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
, Joseph returns home from service in the Duke of Wellington's army to Manchester and his close-knit working class family headed by parents Joshua and Nellie. Joshua, son Robert, daughter Mary, and daughter-in-law Esther all earn a living by manual labour in a cotton mill. An economic depression makes work impossible for the traumatised Joseph to find and threatens the family's livelihood. The family is sympathetic to the campaigns for equal civil and political rights for all men and against the Corn Laws that prevent them from buying cheaper imported grain. Joshua, Joseph, and Robert attend political meetings where local activists including John Knight, Samuel Bamford and John Bagguley speak out against the system of government that is elected only by the upper class and aristocracy; Nellie attends a meeting of the Manchester Female Reform Society. The local authorities, led by magistrates Colonel Fletcher, Reverend William Robert Hay, Reverend Charles Ethelston and Mr. Norris and Deputy Chief Constable Nadin, spy on the movement and wait for an excuse to arrest its leaders. The
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
, Lord Sidmouth, is determined to suppress what they term 'radical' politics. When a disgruntled Londoner smashes the window of the Prince Regent's coach, Sidmouth uses this as a pretext for suspending
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...
. Bamford and his friend Joseph Healey travel south to London to hear the famous activist Henry 'Orator' Hunt speak at a political meeting. Hunt has a reputation for vanity but Bamford persuades Manchester businessman Joseph Johnson to invite Hunt to address a mass meeting at St Peter's Fields; the
Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
discovers this invitation by intercepting Johnson's letter. Arriving at Manchester, Hunt goes into hiding in Johnson's home. Richards, a Home Office spy, is able to provoke Bagguley and fellow activists Drummond and Johnston into publicly calling for armed insurrection, leading to their arrest and imprisonment. The magistrates plan to disperse Hunt's meeting and make an example of the attendees using the local mounted militia, the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry and a regular army detachment led by General John Byng. Hunt remains certain that he can lead a peaceful rally and sidelines Bamford, when he warns of the likelihood of brutal treatment by the authorities. On the day of the meeting, thousands of people walk into Manchester from the surrounding towns to hear Hunt speak at St Peter's Fields, including Nellie and Joshua and their family. Bamford leads a procession from Middleton but leaves in disgust on finding that it has been arranged that only Hunt will be allowed to address the crowd. A special committee of magistrates, chaired by Mr. Hulton has been assembled to break up the event. They appear to be in an upstairs room overlooking the gathering crowd. Norris, who urges restraint, is overruled. Byng has left his deputy in command of the soldiers, to attend a horse racing meet. Once Hunt begins to speak, Reverend Ethelston instructs the crowd to disperse and reads them the
Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled ...
. The crowd does not disperse and the Yeomanry cavalry assault the peaceful assembly with
sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...
s drawn, while Hunt and Johnson are arrested by Nadin's men. The crowd are unable to escape the army and militia resulting in several people killed and many more injured. Joseph is wounded with a sabre and later dies. The attending reporters furiously return to their newspapers to expose this atrocity, coining a mocking name for it, "The Massacre of Peterloo". Despite the massacre, the Prince Regent sends his congratulations to the magistrates for suppressing 'radicalism' and restoring "tranquility".


Cast

* Rory Kinnear as Henry Hunt * Maxine Peake as Nellie * Pearce Quigley as Joshua * David Moorst as Joseph * Rachel Finnegan as Mary * Tom Meredith as Robert * Simona Bitmate as Esther * Robert Wilfort as
Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...
the Prime Minister * Karl Johnson as Lord Sidmouth the Home Secretary * Sam Troughton as Mr. Hobhouse * Roger Sloman as Mr. Grout * Liam Gerrard as Jacob Flather * Kenneth Hadley as Mr. Golightly * Tom Edward-Kane as Mr. Cob * Lizzy McInnerny as Mrs. Moss * Alastair Mackenzie as General Sir John Byng * Neil Bell as Samuel Bamford * Lisa Millett as Jemima Bamford * Philip Jackson as John Knight * John Paul Hurley as John Thacker Saxton * Tom Gill as Joseph Johnson * Lizzie Frain as Mrs. Johnson * Harry Hepple as James Wroe * Ian Mercer as "Dr" Joseph Healey * Adam Long as Wroe's Printer * Nico Mirallegro as John Bagguley * Danny Kirrane as Samuel Drummond * Johnny Byrom as John Johnston * Victor McGuire as Deputy Chief Constable Nadin * Stephen Wight as Oliver the spy * Ryan Pope as Chippendale the spy * Dorothy Atkinson as Singing weaver * Tim McInnerny as the
Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...
* Marion Bailey as Lady Conyngham * Vincent Franklin as Magistrate Rev. Ethelston * Jeff Rawle as Magistrate Rev. Hay * Eileen Davies as Mrs. Hay * Philip Whitchurch as Magistrate Col. Fletcher * Martin Savage as Magistrate Norris * Al Weaver as Magistrate Hulton *
David Bamber David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. His credits include '' Privates on Parade'' (1983), '' Juliet Bravo'' (1983), '' Crown Court'' (1984), '' Call Me Mister'' (1986), '' The Buddha of Suburbia'' (1993), '' Pride an ...
as Magistrate Rev. Mallory * David Fielder as Magistrate Rev. Gutteridge * Fine Time Fontayne as Magistrate Clowes * Robert Gillespie as Magistrate Warmley * Jonathan Jaynes as Magistrate Tatton * Nicholas Lumley as Magistrate Rev. Perryn * Shaun Prendergast as Magistrate Bolt * Alan Williams as Magistrate Marriott * Dorothy Duffy as Mary Fildes * Victoria Moseley as Susannah Saxton * Christine Bottomley as Female reformer * Samantha Edwards as Female reformer * Julie Hesmondhalgh as Female reformer * Kate Rutter as Female reformer * Katie West as Female reformer * Joseph Kloska as Richard Carlile * Leo Bill as John Tyas * Brian Fletcher as Edward Baines * Gary Cargill as John Smith * Patrick Kennedy as Colonel L'Estrange * Guy Williams as Lieutenant Col. Dalrymple * Michael Chadwick as 15th Hussar * Tristram Davies as 15th Hussar * Oliver Devoti as 15th Hussar * Dan Poole as 15th Hussar * Charlie Tighe as 15th Hussar * Ben Crompton as Tuke, the painter * Bryony Miller as Bessie * Lee Boardman as Nadin's Constable * Steve Garti as Nadin's Constable * Michael Culkin as a Lord * Rachel Davies as Pie buyer * Kieran O'Brien as Farrier * Noreen Kershaw as Drunken servant * Bob Goody as Outraged reformer * Debbie Harding as Quizzical lady


Production

Filming began in May 2017. Production shot the interior of the Tarred Yarn Store in
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
,
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, and the exterior of the Ropery at the Chatham Historic Dockyard in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
to double as a cotton mill in Manchester. St Mary's Marshes on the Isle of Grain also appears in a short scene at the beginning of the film, when a lonely figure is seen walking along the marshes. Much of the dialogue is in traditional Lancashire dialect. To achieve this, the director used the book ''The Dialects of South Lancashire'', which was written by the same Samuel Bamford who is portrayed in the film.


Reception

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Peterloo'' proves writer-director Mike Leigh's populist anger remains undimmed – but that righteous fury occasionally overpowers the narrative."
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
gives the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called it a "brilliant and demanding film". The film obtained no
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
nominations and in this regard ''The Guardian''’s critic noted: "''Peterloo'' marks a rare failure for Film4".


See also

* '' Sharpe's Justice''


References


External links


Peterloo
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
*
INSIDE military technical advising on Peterloo and Vanity Fair with Paul Biddiss
{{Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool 2018 films 2010s historical films Films directed by Mike Leigh Amazon MGM Studios films Lionsgate Canada films Film4 Productions films Films set in Manchester Films shot in Devon Films shot in Kent Films set in 1819 British historical films Peterloo massacre Films shot in Greater Manchester 2010s English-language films 2010s British films Cultural depictions of Henry Addington Cultural depictions of Robert Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool Cultural depictions of George IV English-language historical films