Four years since Mr. Turner hit the big screen, British director Mike Leigh is back – and he’s on similarly historic form with his latest film, Peterloo. The Salford-born filmmaker is keeping things close to home, bringing the Manchester-based Peterloo Massacre of 1819 to the big screen. The massacre happened when a peaceful demonstration in St. Peter’s Fields, Manchester saw workers in the cotton industry protest for political reform and workers’ rights. The meeting turned into a bloodbath when armed soldiers turned up to put a stop to it, killing and injuring people in the crowd.
The first trailer for Leigh’s film teases the build-up to the massacre, with a gathering crowd chanting for ‘liberty or death’, and showing hopeful protestors demanding action. Meanwhile soldiers are drinking and sharpening their swords, ready to interrupt the peaceful proceedings. Leading the demonstration is Rory Kinnear as Henry Hunt, a campaigner for equal voting rights between men and women. Elsewhere in the cast are the likes of Maxine Peake, Nico Mirallegro, and Pearce Quigley.
Peterloo is both written and directed by Leigh, and is set to march into UK cinemas on 2 November.
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