Peterloo

Fine historical film, though it has less emotional depth than other Mike Leigh movies. That makes sense, for his movies have never been described as an epic before.

I often state when I write reviews that I am patient than many viewers when it comes to slower paced movies. Also, since I write novels in my spare time and feature plenty of dialogue, I don't mind a lot of talking in movies either. I think this movie lacked some of the emotional impact of other Mike Leigh films, perhaps due its scope. You know how it is; people can shrug off a disaster elsewhere in the world when it kills 500 people, but if they hear a personal story well told about a single victim, the tears may fall.

There are a lot of people in this movie. There were s...

It's quite interesting to consider that even in the mother of western democracies, as recently as two hundred years ago most men did not have the vote in the UK, and great swathes of urban Britain had no representation at all. Mike Leigh is perhaps a little heavy handed here, but he does offer us an at times poignant glimpse into the poverty in which the working class lived in England's north west whilst the governing class lived a life of opulence and privilege under the Prince Regent. Rory Kinnear is the renowned orator "Hunt" who travels the length and breadth of the land advocating a peaceful, positive, realignment of power. A trip to Manchester proves to be the ultimate catalyst for the increasingly panic-stricken authorities who - wit...