Cromwell; Well worth investing two hours of your life.
"Cromwell" is a truly outstanding film. Of course, there are historical inaccuracies (particularly in the portrayal of the Long Parliament and the Battle of Edgehill). But these are trivial points when set against the huge success of this film in encapsulating the enormity of the subject. The personal, military and political dimensions are vast but Ken Hughes captures them as succinctly as is humanly possible.
From a near perfect screen presentation by Alec Guniness to Richard Harris at his pugilistic best, the characterisations are superbly drawn.
The struggle of the common man against a faltering autocracy is a theme conveyed convincingly without becoming a modernist rant.
From an historical perspective this film is a must. Oliver Cromwell has a good claim to be the grandfather of the United States and through it, modern democracy. After Charles II was restored in the military coup of 1660, many of Cromwell's supporters (and at least two tyrannicides - as John Milton called them) sought freedom in their United States. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the revolutionaries who founded the USA; Cromwell had shown it was possible. Cromwell's Statute of Government 1653 (revised 1657) was the cornerstone of most democratic thinking in the 18th century and was the ultimate basis for the US Constitution. Cromwell's Equitable Maxims of 1650 still form the basis of both English and American laws. (Cromwell also introduced the English speaking world to chocolate and opera!).
Unfortunately many myths surround Cromwell; he is reviled by the Roman Catholic church and monarchists. 350 years have seen the creation of many historical inaccuracies - no civilians were killed at Drogheda. Cromwell did not cancel Christmas. Cromwell did not issue coins with the inscription "Olivarus Imperator"; these coins were issued by Charles II and backdated (a rather clever piece of propaganda).
Anyway this movie is a fascinating and a sufficiently accurate introduction to one of the most important events in Anglo-Irish-American history. Enjoy.
Historical Drama with Considerable Liberties Taken
This DVD edition of the Richard Harris film looks good and might rouse a few British history students who are naturally inclined, but too much license is taken with fact. Richard Harris plays Cromwell as a sullen Puritan and Timothy Dalton* an effete ineffect-ual. Dorothy Tutin** and Alec Guiness, however, walk away with the movie in their performances as the English monarchs upon whom Civil War is thrust.
For pageantry and period war scenes, this film is recommended. Otherwise, pick up a book to learn more about Cromwell and the foundations of modern day Parliament!
Particularly pricey, too, considering it is sans special features which could have been so easily and bountifully provided!
*Much better in LION IN WINTER
**Even more delightful in the BBC miniseries THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII (she plays Anne Boleyn to perfection!)
Excellent Production Values, Horribly Inaccurate
The inaccuracies in this film are too numerous to detail. They consist not only of relatively straightforward errors of fact but more serious errors in the construction of the story, namely wholesale distortion of the chronology and roles of major figures of the period. This has been done clearly to make the story more dramatic and comprehensible. The makers of this film were well intentioned but mistaken. The English Civil War is one of the most interesting episodes in European history and if can't be presented in a straightforward fashion, nothing in human history can be. Just as bad are the crashing anachronisms in the story, especially the presentation of Cromwell as some version of a 19th century liberal driven to extreme acts by the folly of his opponents.
The production is handsome and the quality of acting quite good, especially the great Alec Guinness as Charles I and Richard Harris in the title role. The battle scenes are the best part. Since most of these engagements actually involved only a few thousand combatants, the producers were able to mimic parts of the real actions. Still, this is basically a silly movie.
Robert Bolt's successful play was not considered a hot commercial property by Columbia Pictures--a period piece about a moral issue without a star, without even a love story. Perhaps that's why Columbia left director Fred Zinnemann alone to make A Man for All Seasons, as long as he stuck to a relatively small budget. The results took everyone by surprise, as the talky morality play became a box-office hit and collected the top Oscars for 1966. At the play's heart is the standoff between King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw, in young lion form) and Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield, in an Oscar-winning performance). Henry wants More's official approval of divorce, but More's strict ethical and religious code will not let him waffle. More's rectitude is a source of exasperation to Cardinal... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Fred Zinnemann DVD Release Date: Released the 26 January 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In this 12th-century version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), meet on Christmas Eve to discuss the future of the throne. These two are having slight marital problems, as she is kept in captivity most of the year for raising a rebellion against him, and he flaunts his young mistress. Then there are the problems raised by their three treacherous and traitorous sons.
James Goldman won an Oscar® for the brilliant screenplay, based on his Broadway play. It is a tad wordy, as the action is kept to a minimum, but those words are sharp as daggers. The humor is wicked and black and delivered with very dry, dead-on precision. Sparks fly and the screen sizzles whenever Hepburn and O'Toole... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Anthony Harvey (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 19 June 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Carol Reed (The Third Man) directed this 1965 portrait of the relationship between Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) and Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison), who commissioned the artist to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Based on a novel by Irving Stone, the script plods along, juggling the dynamics between the two men along with a somewhat perfunctory love story and distracting battle sequences. Reed seems more attuned to the nuances and great pains of the artistic process, as seen in sequences of Michelangelo working. But the overall focus of the film is unfortunately fuzzy. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Charlton Heston - Rex Harrison Director(s): Carol Reed DVD Release Date: Released the 22 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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It's not always good to be king in this fascinating BBC/A&E historical drama, featuring a complex performance by Rufus Sewell as the exiled British monarch who returned to a volatile, post-Cromwell England in the 17th century. Pressed to forgive the enemies who killed his father, Charles II takes the throne and finds himself squeezed from all sides by vicious power brokers, his vengeful mother (Diana Rigg), a manipulative mistress (Helen McCrory), dubious advisers, a contrarian best friend (Rupert Graves), and his bewildered Portuguese wife (Shirley Henderson). Problems with the Plague and Charles's own, restless libido further complicate family and political dramas, but beneath the king's operatic tenure are visible strains of progressive government: Charles, after all, ushered in an... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Joe Wright (IV) DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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