Comrades

Released during the Thatcher years, it's like one big middle finger to everything she was trying to do to the lower class. It is an excellent, incredibly beautiful piece of filmmaking with a warm sense of humour. I loved the wink at the audience from Douglas when the lanternist is praised near the end of the film - it could have come off as smug, as is the case with Tarantino's similar comment in Inglourious Basterds, but instead I found it downright charming and completely earnt.

It could have been nice if it weren't for the caricature-like characters. All the nobles are evil and foul while all the farmers are noble and gentle. It's too simple and too easy and ruins an otherwise good movie.

This is an incredible film presented with great beauty and wonderful acting. I got the sense Douglas had great love and total control of his film; he's the lanternist giving us a show. Characterizations seem a bit odd with the villains & upper class being broad caricatures while the laborers are gently drawn, but in context it all feels right. I also love the stylized visual touches and fourth wall-breaking moments. The Australia sequence is like a great 2nd film.

Peaks early with visceral imagery and idiosyncrasy. Begins to drag and resort to didactic narrative and fourth wall; whilst the story would have sufficed. Forty minutes of advertisements couldn't have helped, to be fair.