Culloden (film)

Culloden is a 1964 docudrama written and directed by Peter Watkins for BBC TV. It portrays the 1746 Battle of Culloden that resulted in the British Armys destruction of the Scottish Jacobite rising of 1745 and, in the words of the narrator, tore apart forever the clan system of the Scottish Highlands. Described in its opening credits as an account of one of the most mishandled and brutal battles ever fought in Britain, Culloden was hailed as a breakthrough for its cinematography as well as its use of nonprofessional actors and its presentation of an historical event in the style of modern TV war reporting. The film was based on John Prebbles study of the battle.

Watkins also wanted to break through the conventional use of professional actors in historical melodramas, with the comfortable avoidance of reality that these provide, and to use amateursordinary peoplein a reconstruction of their own history. He accordingly used an allamateur cast from London and the Scottish Lowlands for the Hannoverian forces, and people from Inverness for the Jacobite army. This later became a central technique of Watkinss filmmaking.According to an estimate by the cinematographer for the film, Dick Bush, about 85 of all camerawork in Culloden was handheld. This newsreelstyle shooting gave an already gritty reality a sense of present action. Culloden looked like a documentary of an event which occurred before the camera was invented. From this the film illustrates the recognizable documentary style of cinma vrit. ........

Source: Wikipedia