Comrades

1986

Action / Drama / History

1
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 72% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 72% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 974 974

deportation labor union

Plot summary

The story of "The Tolpuddle Martyrs". A group of 19th century English farm labourers who formed one of the first trade unions and started a campaign to receive fair wages.

Director

Bill Douglas Photo
Bill Douglas

Top cast

Malcolm Terris Photo
Malcolm Terris as Gentleman Farmer
Shane Briant Photo
Shane Briant as Lieutenant Mann
Lynette Curran Photo
Lynette Curran as Prostitute
Robert Stephens Photo
Robert Stephens as Frampton
720p.BluRay
1.63 GB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
3 hr 1 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by youngian67

A mystery why this is never shown

This is one of the greatest underrated epics of Brtish cinema.Not only does it chart a pivotal event in the development of trade unionism but one of the few films portrays the harshness of the Australian exile system.Everyone looked like they wanted to make this film and excel in it. The narrative slow burning but riveting, pausing to allow the audience to taste life of that period.We see much of the wretchedness of late Victorian urban life on the screen but this early rural period is often pasteurised like a Constable painting or concentrates on the upper classes.Bill Douglas owes more to Ken Loach than Merchant Ivory.I believe this film was made by Channel 4 but it is never shown and or has a DVD release.If anyone who has any experience of Channel 4 , I would be interested to know what they have against this film.
Reviewed by godfather2 8 / 10

"Comrades" finally shown on TV

Sorry that this is posted a little late but Film4 showed 'Comrades' at 12.20am on March 20th 2009, complete with advertisements unfortunately.The announcer said "now for a rare screening of a British epic", too right, I estimate it hasn't been on TV for 20 years.They do tend to show films more than once so it might be repeated in the next few weeks, probably in a graveyard slot again.Not sure if I enjoyed it as much as the first time around but the location filming and Dorset landscapes are stunning.Seeing as they released the Bill Douglas 'Trilogy' on DVD last year perhaps a release for this overlooked epic is in the pipeline?
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