Winstanley

On April 1, 1649, a British religious sect called the Diggers sets out to form a commune and till the soil on "common" land – which by law permits grazing, but not settlement or cultivation. Led by Gerard Winstanley, theirs is a nonviolent action to reclaim land for the poor who had been dispossessed by Oliver Cromwell's recent Civil War. But the local villagers see the Diggers' "occupation" as a threat to their livelihood and, led by a Presbyterian parson, take action to harass and burn them out. Filmmaking team Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo set out to make an absolutely authentic historical film, using Winstanley's writings for the basis of their screenplay, creating an almost perfect dramatic rendering of the events. If WINSTANLEY be the duo's final collaboration, then they go out on a gripping, wonderfully realized high note.