Winstanley

In this adaptation of David Caute's novel Comrade Jacob, the story of England's first commune - the settlement formed by the Diggers, under the leadership of Gerrard Winstanley, on St George's Hill in Surrey in 1649 - is decorated with unromantic details of Cromwell's era, and edited with the emphasis one expects from Brownlow. But that's about all there is to it: over-riding solemnity crushes the sympathy that is clearly demanded for the story's characters, almost inviting a shrug. The old problem of portraying misery without being miserable yourself hasn't been solved.