Comrades (1986 film)

Comrades
British 2009 DVD cover
Directed byBill Douglas
Written byBill Douglas
Produced bySimon Relph
StarringKeith Allen
CinematographyGale Tattersall
Edited byMick Audsley
Production
companies
Distributed byCurzon Film Distributors
Release dates
  • February 1986 (1986-02) (Premiere)
  • 23 August 1987 (1987-08-23) (UK)
Running time
183 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£3,010,000[1]

Comrades is a 1986 British historical drama film directed by Bill Douglas and starring an ensemble cast including Robin Soans, Phil Davis, Keith Allen, Robert Stephens, Vanessa Redgrave and James Fox. Through the pictures of a travelling lanternist, it depicts the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who were arrested and transported to Australia in 1834 for trying to improve their conditions by forming an early form of trade union.[2] It was Bill Douglas's last film.

  1. ^ "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 21.
  2. ^ BFI Screenonline: Comrades (1986) Retrieved 2012-11-07