Slideshow
WINSTANLEY
Recorded introduction by KEVIN BROWNLOW, filmed especially for this series on October 20, 2025 at BFI Southbank, London.
U.K., 1975
Directed by Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollo
Starring Miles Halliwell, Terry Higgins, Jerome Willis
Approx. 95 min. DCP.
1649, and Oliver Cromwell’s victorious Roundheads are topped in radicalism by the Diggers, a religious sect—led by Gerard Winstanley (Miles Halliwell)—that’s settling the “common land” on St. George’s Hill, Surrey as a refuge for the Civil War’s dispossessed—but the locals perceive a threat. Another triumph of authenticity, much of its dialogue straight from Winstanley’s pamphlets, with such attention to the minutest period detail as armor borrowed from the Tower of London, a supporting cast of non-pros selected for their 17th century look, even the animals cast from now-rare breeds.
Presented with support from The Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film
Reviews
“The most mysteriously beautiful English film since the best of Michael Powell.”
– Jonathan Rosenbaum