The Uprising movie review: In a world where ever-new oligarchs, from oil to tech, run the world, who cares for a peasants’ revolt 700 years ago? So, doff hats to Paul Greengrass and Andrew Garfield for lending their weight to this film about the 1381 uprising, widely considered the first populist rebellion in England.

But, uprising does not mean uplifting. Shot in bleak greys offering little by way of colour, on the muddy grounds or the cloudy skies, or the person of its characters – who are dressed uniformly, but for the royals, in clothes made of worn, torn sack material – The Uprising is often hard to see or follow.

Screenwriter Greengrass doesn’t believe much in dialogue, which could have laid out better the conditions that created the revolt. And when his characters do talk, the many English accents don’t help.

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The film is as basic as to not bother giving the central character of Garfield even a name, and he is referred to simply as ‘Ploughman’. He is a farmer, toiling against the hard soil while grieving for his wife and two children, consumed by the plague that is sweeping the countryside.

The others in his village are faring no better. And so, when the Council of a preteen King Richard II (Woody Norman) advises him to raise much-needed money to fund wars by raising taxes on the people (“Merchants may ask for a seat at the table if asked to pay”), it is the last straw.

Ploughman deals the first blow, literally, after a particularly horrific sequence with the King’s soldiers molesting women in public to determine their age. And soon, the revolt has spread, drawing in former soldier Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis) and a priest-turned-heretic John Ball (Jamie Bell). Tyler wants the King to let people govern themselves, and to keep the money they earn. Ball wants “justice” that can only be served by getting rid of the King’s Council, who have been running the show due to his young age, and whom Ball refers to as “traitors”. Alyce (a totally superfluous Thomas McKenzie) is Ball’s protege.

The only other woman with any role in the film is the King’s Mother, played by Katherine Waterston with her usual stately, contained demeanour. She is very worried about the King being a perpetually snivelling child, and Waterston barely gives those frowns a break.

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As the revolt grows, the rebels announce a march to London, gathering more peasants along the way.

It is here that The Uprising sparkles the most, with not taking the easy route of a good versus black divide. As the numbers of their followers grow, the rebel leaders differ over what their central aims should be, and how to go about achieving them. In London, those differences come to a horrific head.

Waterston isn’t the only one stuck in one expression, meanwhile. So is Garfield, hidden behind a beard, with locks on his forehead, and dark corners everywhere. Whenever you can decipher, he bears a dour, concerned, half-weepy look.

It’s Norman who makes the most of his King Richard II, complete with the luscious curls sticking out over both his ears. The schemings of his courtiers (Tom Hollander, Stephen Dillane), and his coming-of-age amidst them – be it when he glances the protesters assembled along the Thames riverbank, or shouting his name at the palace doors – and his belief in himself as the “messiah” help give The Uprising the fervour and passion it sorely lacks otherwise.

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A pity Greengrass didn’t have the same belief in his audiences as much. “Deplorables” gets mentioned as an adjective for the peasantry, and “No Kings” as a goal when the rebels enjoy a sweet victory. Both are words special to the post-Trump era.

Rather, to ensure that the Americans did find something to connect to in The Uprising, the film’s marketing team in the US briefly linked the 1381 revolt to the legend of Robin Hood.

Only 200 years are believed to separate the two.

The Uprising movie director: Paul Greengrass


The Uprising movie  movie cast: Andrew Garfield, Jamie Bell, Cosmo Jarvis, Woody Norman, Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, Tom Hollander, Stephen Dillane


The Uprising movie rating: 2.5 stars