Not sure where my own hype came from, but it was misjudged.
In 1381, the peasant’s revolt amounted to a violent riot straight into the heart of London. They seek the King’s word of salvation from repeated taxes since the kingdom went to war and survived the Plague. But will their voices be heard?
The Uprising is written and directed by Paul Greengrass (The later Bourne films, Captain Phillips) and stars Andrew Garfield (Silence) Jamie Bell (Rocketman) Thomasin McKenzie (Eileen) and Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts) and… for some reason, had my attention. That may have been in light of the times we live in. A movie about a country’s populace rising up against the tyranny of the 1% feels required these days, no?
Does the film indeed rise up? Or does it get crushed.
The film follows the unnamed “Ploughman” (played by Garfield) who works his farm alone; his entire family killed by the Black Death. Upon arriving at town, he discovers that taxes have been further raised on the struggling townfolk. In a fit of rage, stoked by the abuse of women around him by the King’s guards, he fights back. After killing a guard, a brewing sense of unrest becomes full scale rebellion across England.
A weakened English army, fighting the Scots and the French, are at risk of being overwhelmed by their own peasantry…
The Uprising comes at an interesting time. Writer/director Greengrass has said as much; that he found parallels with the real-life events of 1381 to mirror events around the Covid-19 pandemic. A repressed people, suffering after a devastating disease, now being further crushed by a staggering rich/poor divide. Sounds like a good bit of catharsis, or at least relatable content. Andrew Garfield is a fine central figure.
So what is it that doesn’t quite work here?
The film is largely a dour experience. The world is thematically and visually oppressed; everything is monochromes of brown and grey. Even when the picture brightens, it is at times when intense peril looms. Granted, you would not expect a movie set after The Black Death to be sunny and bright. But here there is very little artistry in the gloom. Everything is grainy and even blurry at times. Compared to this year’s The Death of Robin Hood (for definitely no reason at all) The Uprising is positively unimaginative in how it looks.
Add to this the writing, which feels quite devoid of investment. Take Thomasin McKenzie’s character of Alyce. As one of the main instigators of the riots, she quails and retreats from the greatest of violences her mob brings. Despite being intensely violent earlier. Then afterwards, she expresses her backstory as to why she’s driven to extremes. It felt like this was out of order. This lack of early personal agency affects the audience’s commitment to follow the mob. It just seems like a lot of shouting people. The audience needs to bring their own feelings of injustice.
The film has much faster pacing than expected. Before you can say “eat the rich”, Garfield has already killed a soldier. By the time the riots have escalated fully, you wonder what is left. Fiction, apparently. According to historians. The film’s final sequences are either illogical or nonsense. While the film does bring some historic events to light which may be forgotten about, this only goes until a point.
This is a lot of negativity. I think it comes from having strangely high hopes going in. The film, if you are keen on seeing dour middle-ages, looks okay. It has guerilla-style camerawork when the riots and action occur, keeping the audience within the chaos. The carnage and deaths are suitably bloody and gory; representative for the times. People are hacked apart. There is a moment of intense escalation towards the second act’s end which is very engaging. Where the instigators of the riots see the mob turning violent. Where control is lost.
The performances were decent. Jamie Bell disappears into the role of “the fanatic” priest who is central to the mob’s demands. Katherine Waterston was also very good in her role as the Countess. There were a great deal of unspoken words that read louder than any actions from her.
Ultimately, I was a bit let down. For the times we live in, this film should have been resonating. It should have raised emotions and made me feel something. But I genuinely feel like the character agency was lacking in the writing. Which left the whole experience as a procession of shouting and chaos in the mud.
