Oliver Cromwell in cinema

Hello class,


Here I leave some interesting information on two films based on the figure of Oliver Cromwell.

The first is Cromwell (1970), a British masterpiece written and directed by Ken Hughes.
The film starts in 1640 when the discrepances between the monarch Charles I and the Parliament will lead England to a Civil War. Then the narration follows the powerful figure of Oliver Cromwell from the trial and execution of Charles I until 1650 when Cromwell disolves the Parliament of the Republic and establishes a dictatorship.

As usual in this kind of films, Hughes introduces some (minor) variations in the historical events, but the main aim in Cromwell is the characterization of the two protagonists: Richard Harris as Oliver Cromwell and Alec Guiness as Charles I.

I have also added two extraordinary sequences from the film in which the two major characters are portrayed.

1) Charles I execution:



2) Cromwell's last speech and dissolution of the Parliament, as described by Schama:


The other film is a more recent one: To kill a king (2003) directed by Mike Barker. This film focuses on a completely different point of view from the film of 1970: here the action looks at the friendship and later enmity between Oliver Cromwell (Tim Roth) and Sir Thomas Fairfax (Dougray Scott), which was a secondary character in the other version. Here you have the trailer: