Roger Ebert Review Puts The Uprising’s Historical Rage in Focus

Paul Greengrass’s The Uprising has drawn attention from RogerEbert.com, where a new review examines the film’s depiction of England’s 1381 Peasants’ Revolt. Led onscreen by Andrew Garfield’s grieving farmer, the historical action drama connects medieval inequality, political distrust, and social upheaval with anxieties that feel strikingly contemporary.

Key takeaways

• The review calls the film a watchable, politically resonant historical epic.

• Andrew Garfield brings vulnerability and resolve to the central role of Ploughman.

• Paul Greengrass’s handheld action style makes the violence immediate, though it can distract in quieter scenes.

• The film takes substantial liberties with history and struggles to integrate its Robin Hood-inspired ending.

The review’s central argument is that The Uprising works best when it treats the past as an emotional mirror rather than a distant historical tableau. Set after the Black Death, the film presents a country depleted by mass death, oppressive taxation, restricted wages, and costly war. Those pressures fuel a popular rebellion against a ruling class that appears insulated from ordinary suffering.

A medieval crisis with modern echoes

Greengrass reportedly avoids overloading the film with historical exposition, a choice that may frustrate specialists but keeps the broader social argument accessible. The result is a story about ordinary people confronting economic extraction and unaccountable leadership—concerns that remain familiar to Era-zine readers tracking institutional trust, inequality, and the social consequences of political decisions.

The rebellion begins when a new poll tax pushes already burdened workers toward open resistance. Ploughman and his neighbors march toward London, hoping to appeal directly to the young King Richard II. Along the way, the movement expands while also revealing internal disagreements over whether reform, justice, or a more sweeping transformation is possible.

Garfield and Norman anchor the drama

Garfield’s Ploughman is portrayed less as a richly detailed individual than as an emblem of the working population. His family has died in the plague, and his life is defined by labor, grief, and an enduring belief that the monarchy might still uphold a meaningful idea of justice. Garfield’s restrained performance gives emotional credibility to dialogue that can otherwise feel overly declarative.

Woody Norman’s Richard II provides a sharp contrast. The young king is devout, frightened, and volatile, embodying both the sacred authority rebels attach to the crown and the instability beneath it. Supporting figures include Wat Tyler, John Ball, Robert Hales, Archbishop Simon Sudbury, and London mayor William Walworth, though the film’s archetypal naming system can make them difficult to distinguish.

Brutality, symbolism, and historical license

The review praises the film’s bleak visual world: abandoned-looking fields, exhausted workers, and a pervasive sense of mourning. Greengrass’s signature shaky-camera technique intensifies the battle sequences, creating a visceral impression of medieval combat. In quieter exchanges, however, the same approach can become needlessly distracting.

The film also reshapes historical events for dramatic effect, particularly its final confrontation and the extent of Richard’s involvement in negotiations. Its closing epilogue, filled with green clothing and a bow-and-arrow image, attempts to connect Ploughman to Robin Hood. The review finds that gesture unconvincing, suggesting it weakens an otherwise serious examination of rebellion and collective power.

What the review means for the film

Rather than presenting The Uprising as a definitive history lesson, the Roger Ebert review positions it as an accessible, politically charged interpretation of a pivotal revolt. Its broad characterizations and factual liberties may limit its precision, but its focus on grief, class pressure, and institutional failure gives the film contemporary force. For audiences seeking historical cinema that invites reflection on the present, it remains a film with both imperfections and considerable relevance.

Sources

• Gritty historical actioner turns Andrew Garfield into a pseudo-Robin Hood, www.rogerebert.com › reviews › the-uprising-andrew-garfield-paul-greeng....