PETERLOO is Mike Leigh's history text transformed into an overlong movie. It's an exploration of just what happened during the infamous Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, looking at the main players involved on both sides and the situation that allowed for the violence to arise. It's handsomely mounted, well-costumed and amusingly acted throughout (I love the regional accents), but it's also rather dry and dusty for the first couple of hours; this just consists of speeches and long conversations which become a little staid before long. However, the massacre itself is very well handled and powerfully done, so worth the wait. The excision of 30-40 minutes would have improved things a great deal.
Review of Peterloo
