On this episode of the podcast, we discuss Mike Leigh’s Peterloo and Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You. These are two very different films with a strong political commitment to the need to improve the lives of the working class.
Although Ken Loach and Mike Leigh are both British filmmakers who make social realist films, they have very different approaches to storytelling and filmmaking. In the episode, we discuss how Loach and Leigh approach politics, character, and much more.
This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, and Associate Editor Brett Pardy.
Sorry We Missed You, Ken Loach’s most recent film, focuses on the exploitation of the gig economy. Loach tells the story through the lens of a working-class family’s struggle to meet everyday expenses.
Peterloo, Mike Leigh’s most recent film, portrays the events leading up to the 1819 Peterloo Massacre. During the massacre, British soldiers killed 15 and injured as many as 700 people protesting for parliamentary reform.
This episode also draws from research we did for our ebook Peterloo in Process: A Mike Leigh Collaboration.
Show notes and recommended reading
- Read Gillie Collins’ review of Ken Loach’s prior film I, Daniel Blake. She wrote, “The movie fails to challenge the idea that there is a Deserving Poor and an Undeserving Poor, and that these categories can and should be distinguished. To me, this is a distraction: everyone deserves a helping hand.”
- Listen to the podcast episode dedicated to Peterloo and our ebook on the film.
- Purchase or preview our ebook Peterloo in Process: A Mike Leigh collaboration. The book includes interviews with Mike Leigh himself, cinematographer Dick Pope, editor Jon Gregory, costume designer Jacqueline Durran, production designer Suzie Davies, make-up designer Christine Blundell, plus actors Rory Kinnear and Maxine Peake.
