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Winstanley is a 1975 British black-and-white film about social reformer and writer Gerrard Winstanley. It was made by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo (creators of It Happened Here) and based on the 1961 David Caute novel Comrade Jacob.
Winstanley details the story of the 17th-century social reformer and writer Gerrard Winstanley, who, along with a small band of followers known as the Diggers, tried to establish a self-sufficient farming community on common land at St George's Hill ("Diggers' Hill") near Cobham, Surrey.
- 96 min
Winstanley: Directed by Kevin Brownlow. With Miles Halliwell, Jerome Willis, Terry Higgins, Phil Oliver. Winstanley explores the attempt by Gerrard Winstanley who formed 'The Diggers' and with a group of followers attempted to form a small farming community in one of the first proto-Communist attempts at collective agriculture.
- (385)
- Biography, Drama, War
- Kevin Brownlow
- 1975
Directed by Kevin Brownlow, and based on a true story, "Winstanley" documents the efforts of Gerrard Winstanley (Miles Halliwell), a social reformer who resisted the privatisation of once common land, and tried to establish a self-sufficient farming community in 17th century England.
With poverty and unrest sweeping England following the Civil Wars and the failure of the Levellers to secure voting rights for non-landowners, a group of impoverished people, the Diggers, form a settlement on St George's Hill in Surrey under the leadership of General Winstanley.
- Kevin Brownlow
- BFI Production Board
- Kevin Brownlow
- Marina Lewycka
Winstanley sets out his Christian philosophy of the earth as a common treasury for all men and his belief that all land and possessions should be held in common. At the nearby house of the local parson, John Platt, his wife reads the writings of Winstanley.
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Mar 6, 2009 · Based on David Caute's 1961 novel Comrade Jacob, this docu-drama looks a little rough and ready now, but with stark monochrome beauty, and the film has a high-mindedness and an intriguing ...
