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Winstanley [VHS] [1975]
 
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Winstanley [VHS] [1975]

VHS ~ Miles Halliwell
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Miles Halliwell, Jerome Willis, Terry Higgins, Phil Oliver, David Bramley
  • Directors: Kevin Brownlow
  • Writers: Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollo, David Caute
  • Producers: Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollo
  • Format: Black & White, PAL
  • Language English
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Bfi Video
  • VHS Release Date: 8 Jun 1998
  • Run Time: 92 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004CWJ0
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 18,731 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Product Description

Synopsis
A mysterious, historically accurate film, set in 1649, charting the progress of a group of impoverished men and women who form a settlement on St George's Hill in Surrey. The vision of Gerrard Winstanley is of people living together in peace as equals.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Winstanley [VHS] [1975]
76% buy the item featured on this page:
Winstanley [VHS] [1975] 4.3 out of 5 stars (3)
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It Happened Here [1964] [DVD]
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It Happened Here [1964] [DVD] 4.7 out of 5 stars (7)
£9.78
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Achievement, 15 Jan 2002
By Mr. B. Marshall (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Brownlow and Mollo's film 'Winstanley' is a faithful recreation of a forgotten episode in English history. A few months after the execution of Chalres I, after seven years of bloody Civil War, England was in a state of upheaval: a fecund ground for new ideas, new attitudes and new actions.

Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers were pioneers of 'direct action', claiming back common lands for the poor and dispossessed. The actions of the Diggers attracted the hostility of wealthy local lords, and their commune was many times raided.

This film conveys the hardships through which the Digger went. Miles Halliwell's portrayl of Winstanley is sympathetic; he almost IS Gerrard himself. I also enjoyed the scenes with the Ranters (seventeenth century hippie-types), which marvellously conveyed the mad anarchy of their beliefs, and also captured the bewilderment of Diggers themselves. Real-life activist Sid Rawle played his part with aplomb.

The film's sympathies lie clearly with the Diggers, but the directors do not flinch from showing us the adversity under which the Diggers laboured. Much of this is revealled through the words of their opponents, particularly the nasty Parson Platt, whose wife was entranced by the power of Winstanley's books. Yet not only people made life difficult for the Diggers. A harsh Nature is starkly captured in monochrome, though monochrome also captures the light admirably, which gives us a glimpse of hope, of redemption. Indeed the black and white cinematography--a result partly of aesthetic, partly financial reasons--gives the film a tangible historical edge. The dialogue is likewise authentic, much of Halliwell's narration derived verbatim from Winstanley's writings.

As the documentary at the end of the film shows, it was made on a shoestring, independent of big studios, and acted by amateurs. Its achievements are thus all the more admirable.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars a faithful step back in time, 24 Feb 2001
By A Customer
Black and white gives a real historical feel to this heart-rendering story. The Diggers were idealists who rightly saw land as a crucial issue during the English Civil war. Sid Rawle - seventies squatter - plays the leader of the Ranters who disrupt the Diggers peaceful mission, Winstanley himself is played by Miles Halliwell, excellent casting in both cases. Though the film was made on a shoestring budget it's a must for anyone fascinated by the history of ideas or who wishes people today treated the earth as 'a common treasury for all'.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An almost realistic portrayal of a genius., 30 Jan 2002
By richkerridge@hotmail.com (Cambridge, England) - See all my reviews
A wonderful portrayal of a much neglected historical figure. The video emphasises the hardships faced by the Diggers and their constant battle against the fears and prejudices of the locals. It represents England's last chance at making, for Winstanley, a wondeful and equal society. Anything could happen now that the king had gone!
I felt that the black and white production did not enhance my enjoyment, hence four not five stars. The diggers did not live in a 'black and white' age and I feel a colour production would not have been to the film's detriment. That said black and white does give that 'old' feel.
I also thought that Winstanley himself was a very jolly fellow in the film, with a wonderful middle-class English accent. I feel that had Winstanley had his Wigan accent in tact it would have added more realism to the film.
The film was produced on a shoe-string and it means that this particular hero of English history will live on in the hearts and minds of those that see it.
Good on you!
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