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Winstanley: a film that digs deep into 17th-century religious activism Winstanley: a film that digs deep into 17th-century religious activism
(4 months later)
Winstanley (1975)
Director: Kevin Brownlow
Entertainment grade: C+
History grade: A		Winstanley (1975)
Director: Kevin Brownlow
Entertainment grade: C+
History grade: A
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Gerrard Winstanley began True Levellers, a Christian group devoted to egalitarian and communal living that formed in the wake of the English civil war. They became known as the Diggers, and are often considered precursors of socialists or communists.Gerrard Winstanley began True Levellers, a Christian group devoted to egalitarian and communal living that formed in the wake of the English civil war. They became known as the Diggers, and are often considered precursors of socialists or communists.
Name checkName check
Few things warm the cockles of a historian's cold, dispassionate heart like a long list of eminent advisers named in the opening credits of a film. Winstanley shouts out to several museum curators (from the V&A, Tower of London and the Museum of English Rural Life), somebody from the Roundhead Association (yes, it still exists) and a brigadier from the Sealed Knot. A prologue provides historical background, complete with accurate places and dates:Few things warm the cockles of a historian's cold, dispassionate heart like a long list of eminent advisers named in the opening credits of a film. Winstanley shouts out to several museum curators (from the V&A, Tower of London and the Museum of English Rural Life), somebody from the Roundhead Association (yes, it still exists) and a brigadier from the Sealed Knot. A prologue provides historical background, complete with accurate places and dates:
1646: King v parliament.1646: King v parliament.
1647: Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army "seething with discontent at the outcome of the war" in St Mary's church, in Putney.1647: Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army "seething with discontent at the outcome of the war" in St Mary's church, in Putney.
15 November 1647: Colonel Fairfax (Jerome Willis) executes Private Arnold following the Corkbush Field Mutiny.15 November 1647: Colonel Fairfax (Jerome Willis) executes Private Arnold following the Corkbush Field Mutiny.
This is sterling stuff, and elegantly filmed in black and white by Hungarian-born cinematographer Ernest Vincze, who later worked on Doctor Who. Top marks.This is sterling stuff, and elegantly filmed in black and white by Hungarian-born cinematographer Ernest Vincze, who later worked on Doctor Who. Top marks.
Common ownershipCommon ownership
In April 1649, the Diggers toil on common land at St George's Hill, in Weybridge, Surrey. The scowling local Presbyterian parson John Platt (David Bramley) disapproves. His wife (Alison Halliwell) has had quite enough of Platt's moaning and, what's more, he slurps his soup. So she stomps off up the hill to join the hippies. Winstanley (who is played not by an actor, but by a schoolteacher, the late Miles Halliwell) soon runs into trouble with the law, represented by Fairfax. "Many local gentlemen and freeholders have complained to the council of state that you are tumultuous, and a danger to the county," Fairfax says. To be fair, they are a bit tumultuous. One of them gets naked and capers around; nobody seems to know whose children are whose. Shocking stuff.In April 1649, the Diggers toil on common land at St George's Hill, in Weybridge, Surrey. The scowling local Presbyterian parson John Platt (David Bramley) disapproves. His wife (Alison Halliwell) has had quite enough of Platt's moaning and, what's more, he slurps his soup. So she stomps off up the hill to join the hippies. Winstanley (who is played not by an actor, but by a schoolteacher, the late Miles Halliwell) soon runs into trouble with the law, represented by Fairfax. "Many local gentlemen and freeholders have complained to the council of state that you are tumultuous, and a danger to the county," Fairfax says. To be fair, they are a bit tumultuous. One of them gets naked and capers around; nobody seems to know whose children are whose. Shocking stuff.
True to lifeTrue to life
"Was the earth made to preserve a few covetous and proud men to live at ease," says Winstanley, "to bag and barn up the treasures of the earth from others, that these may beg and starve in a fruitful land?""Was the earth made to preserve a few covetous and proud men to live at ease," says Winstanley, "to bag and barn up the treasures of the earth from others, that these may beg and starve in a fruitful land?"
No doubt he would have written for the Guardian, except it wouldn't exist for another 172 years. This line is from the real Winstanley's 1649 pamphlet The New Law of Righteousness. Many of Winstanley's real words are used in the film, and the fidelity to 17th-century life is extremely impressive. "We made the film to see if it is possible to make an absolutely authentic historical film," director Kevin Brownlow said in 1997. "Even the animals came from rare breeds, and the armour for the battle scene came from the Tower of London."No doubt he would have written for the Guardian, except it wouldn't exist for another 172 years. This line is from the real Winstanley's 1649 pamphlet The New Law of Righteousness. Many of Winstanley's real words are used in the film, and the fidelity to 17th-century life is extremely impressive. "We made the film to see if it is possible to make an absolutely authentic historical film," director Kevin Brownlow said in 1997. "Even the animals came from rare breeds, and the armour for the battle scene came from the Tower of London."
The daily grindThe daily grind
It isn't much fun hanging out with the Diggers. The only toy for children is a muddy bank they can slide down (mind you, that wasn't such a bad deal in the 17th century). For the grownups, life is a daily grind of planting unsprouting seeds in tough ground, contracting various respiratory infections and sleeping in straw huts huddled against other stinky folk for warmth. Plus, the Diggers irritate the locals by rejecting property and propriety, so they are constantly beaten up by landowners, soldiers and assorted agents of privilege. Then the Ranters sect wants to join in, and frankly they seem like rather hard work. (In a pleasingly credible touch, their leader is played by another non-actor, Sid Rawle, who was a peace campaigner and 20th-century adherent to Digger ideas.)It isn't much fun hanging out with the Diggers. The only toy for children is a muddy bank they can slide down (mind you, that wasn't such a bad deal in the 17th century). For the grownups, life is a daily grind of planting unsprouting seeds in tough ground, contracting various respiratory infections and sleeping in straw huts huddled against other stinky folk for warmth. Plus, the Diggers irritate the locals by rejecting property and propriety, so they are constantly beaten up by landowners, soldiers and assorted agents of privilege. Then the Ranters sect wants to join in, and frankly they seem like rather hard work. (In a pleasingly credible touch, their leader is played by another non-actor, Sid Rawle, who was a peace campaigner and 20th-century adherent to Digger ideas.)
ViolenceViolence
The conflicts Winstanley and the Diggers face, notably from the real-life parson Platt in the film is accurate. According to T Wilson Hayes, who wrote a literary analysis of Winstanley and the Diggers, Platt and a gang "attacked a Digger family, beat the wife so that she miscarried, and destroyed their house". He later summoned 50 men and torched the entire colony. Eventually, the Diggers have had enough. "We have turned the cheek once too often," says one. "Soon we will be without a face." And so this round goes to The Man. But, as all good Marxist historians know, historical forces make it inevitable that the lefties will be back.The conflicts Winstanley and the Diggers face, notably from the real-life parson Platt in the film is accurate. According to T Wilson Hayes, who wrote a literary analysis of Winstanley and the Diggers, Platt and a gang "attacked a Digger family, beat the wife so that she miscarried, and destroyed their house". He later summoned 50 men and torched the entire colony. Eventually, the Diggers have had enough. "We have turned the cheek once too often," says one. "Soon we will be without a face." And so this round goes to The Man. But, as all good Marxist historians know, historical forces make it inevitable that the lefties will be back.
VerdictVerdict
Winstanley scores modestly for entertainment: It's a fine film, but moves slowly, and people unfamiliar with the subject may be confused. As a piece of historical representation, though, it's spot-on.Winstanley scores modestly for entertainment: It's a fine film, but moves slowly, and people unfamiliar with the subject may be confused. As a piece of historical representation, though, it's spot-on.
• Alex von Tunzelmann's Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder and the Cold War in the Caribbean is published by Simon & Schuster• Alex von Tunzelmann's Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder and the Cold War in the Caribbean is published by Simon & Schuster
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