FILM REVIEW – CROMWELL
Dreadful, dull and boring with an utter
disregard for historical accuracy. Only Alec Guinness seems to make any genuine
effort in his depiction of a hapless king, everyone else including Richard Harris,
(Cromwell) Timothy Dalton (Prince Rupert) and Robert Morley as Lord Manchester
seem to treat it all like a pantomime. Cromwell comes across as a pious well
meaning man of common sense, rather than a deeply passionate religious fanatic.
He is listed as one of the five Members Of Parliament who Charles attempted
unsuccessfully to arrest, They were Pym, Hampdon, Holles, Strode and Haseling,
all of who fled before the King arrived to take them into custody. Here,
Cromwell is himself depicted as one of the five and he stays to taunt the King
defiantly rather than flee. Had he done so, he would have been arrested and
executed quickly.
Cromwell in reality, missed the battle at
Edgehill in 1642. Here, the first major battle of the Civil War starts at
with Cromwell exasperated by the long wait for the sides to fully line up before one takes
shots at the other. His patience worn out, Cromwell, defies orders from the Earl
Of Manchester and leads a charge straight
away. The battle ends with a decimated parliament army and Cromwell spends much
of the film raising a new one from scratch. This is absolute nonsense. Edgehill
was highly indecisive and certainly did not leave either side in such dire
straights.
We then plunge directly to Naseby where Prince Rupert is still seen carrying Boy, his pet poodle (in reality a much fiercer and aggressive breed of dog in the day - not the pampered parlour creature of the modern age) ) into battle though the Dog perished at Marston Moor (a battle not depicted at all) and then there is a dull presentation of the trial and execution of Charles and Cromwell trying to be all Shakespearean about whether to take the English Crown for his own or not. The film makes exciting and dynamic events frightfully tedious Few films could do justice to such complex events as the Civil Wars of England that spanned a twenty year period from Bishops War of 1639-40 to the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, but this film barely even tries. The film also fails to make any reference to Cromwell's massacre of the Irish at Drogeda and Wexford, which are among the most shameful events in British history.
For re-enactors and
history buffs this is a film filled with unintentional light relief and a fun
film for late night drinking parties.
Arthur Chappell
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