Roger Ebert Review Puts The Uprising’s Rebellion in a Modern Light

Paul Greengrass’s historical drama The Uprising is drawing renewed attention after a Roger Ebert review examined its portrayal of England’s 1381 Peasants’ Revolt. Starring Andrew Garfield as a grieving farmer turned rebel, the film connects medieval inequality, political distrust, and public anger with anxieties that remain recognizable today.

Key takeaways

• Roger Ebert’s review calls the film a watchable, forceful historical epic with clear contemporary resonance.

• Andrew Garfield’s performance anchors the story through vulnerability, conviction, and understated hope.

• The film takes substantial dramatic liberties with the history of the rebellion.

• Its Robin Hood suggestion is intriguing but ultimately feels forced.

For Era-zine readers interested in the intersection of culture and social change, the review offers more than a conventional assessment of a new release. It considers how historical cinema can reflect present-day debates about inequality, institutional power, and the public’s relationship with political leadership.

A medieval crisis with modern echoes

Set in the aftermath of the Black Death, The Uprising depicts a society devastated by mass death and economic disruption. Workers face heavy taxation, suppressed wages, and a ruling class determined to preserve its privileges while England continues its costly war in France.

The resulting rebellion gathers momentum as ordinary people march toward London to present their grievances to the young King Richard II. Greengrass uses the period setting to explore familiar pressures: distrust of elites, anger over economic policy, and the widening distance between government and the people it governs.

Garfield leads an archetypal rebellion

Garfield plays Ploughman, a farmer whose family has died during the plague and whose life is constrained by the feudal system. Rather than presenting him as a densely detailed historical individual, the film uses him as an emblem of the working population’s grief and determination.

The review highlights Garfield’s ability to give broad, sometimes overly earnest dialogue emotional credibility. Woody Norman also earns attention as Richard, a frightened and devout young monarch whose uncertainty makes him more complicated than a straightforward villain.

Greengrass favors immediacy over historical precision

The film’s England is bleak, sparsely populated, and physically exhausted. Greengrass brings his recognizable handheld camera style to the violence, making the battles chaotic and uncomfortably immediate. That approach strengthens the action but can become distracting during quieter scenes.

The review also notes that The Uprising reshapes historical events for dramatic effect. Several negotiations and the climactic confrontation depart significantly from the record. For viewers seeking a precise account of the revolt, those changes may frustrate; for audiences approaching the film as political historical fiction, they reinforce its larger themes.

The Robin Hood connection does not fully land

Marketing has suggested that the film might offer a new interpretation of Robin Hood, but the review finds that connection uncertain. Ploughman appears partly inspired by the medieval poem Piers Plowman, while the film’s closing imagery of a bow and green clothing gestures toward the familiar legend.

That final turn is described as an awkward attempt to give a complicated rebellion a more uplifting resolution. Its uneasy fit may be disappointing, but it also reflects the film’s central tension: social upheaval rarely ends with a simple moral or a perfectly satisfying conclusion.

A timely historical drama

Despite its liberties and uneven coda, The Uprising emerges from the review as an ambitious film with a strong contemporary pulse. Its depiction of collective frustration encourages viewers to consider how stories from the past illuminate current questions about power, public trust, and economic fairness—subjects that remain central to Era-zine’s broader cultural perspective.

Sources

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