A British historical drama; A story set in 1819 about a cavalry and yeomanry charge on a peaceful protest of 100,000 people at St Peter's Field in Manchester, England. An impassioned telling of an important event in English history with a narrative of extensive exposition, rhetoric, and political discourse. As an account based on facts, it is selective, based on individual incidents that do not fully convey the true depth and seriousness of the situation running through England in post-Waterloo Britain. By lampooning high power to the degree it does, it dullens the overall dramatic tone. The first act becomes sluggish and hardly recovers in the second. The final act is an arresting sequence of action and suspense. The director sets a suitably dour scene of the impoverished people, but the twangyness of the accents and indulgence in mock-Northern expressions are often grating. Maxine Peake's overemphasis on the local dialect feels redundant at times. The story fails to deal with the aftermath of the massacre. All in all, the film holds a fascinating wealth of detail in the vivid period backdrop, and the costumes and props lend a lot of authenticity. The cinematography is also very good; in particular, the natural daylight and the candlelight in the interior scenes are sumptuous.
Review of Peterloo
