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Comrades (1986)
Director: Bill Douglas
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Douglas' epic and very British film about the Tolpuddle Martyrs - 1830s Dorset farm labourers who formed a union to protest against subsistence wages, only to be deported to Australia - employs a minimum of fussy historical detail to offer a didactic but never dogmatic film of wide-ranging relevance. Politically, it foreshadows modern labour disputes; aesthetically, as 'a lanternist's account', the film is an investigation of different, pre-cinematic modes of story-telling. Fuelling the whole is a deeply humane concern for suffering, coupled with a righteous anger directed against hypocrisy and inequality. Equally importantly, however, it works as often humorous, always intelligently moving spectacle, immaculately performed, structured and shot.Author: GA
User reviews of this film
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- jules said...
- Posted on May 04 2008 20:09 This is one of the best films I have ever seen. I am trying to find a copy as I last saw it ten years ago. It is still fresh in my mind however. Would be grateful if anyone can help source a copy for me.
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Cast & crew
Director: Bill Douglas
Producer: Simon Relph
Cast: Robin Soans, Alex Norton, William Gaminara, Philip Davis, Robert Stephens, Freddie Jones, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael Hordern, James Fox, Barbara Windsor, Imelda Staunton full cast
Duration: 183 mins
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