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IMDbPro

The Ploughman's Lunch

  • 19831983
  • RR
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
458
YOUR RATING
The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
Drama
James Penfield (Jonathan Pryce) has made a career out of journalism. Now bankrupt, he finds himself with a group of other writers in the middle of the dispute-ridden British homeland at the ... Read allJames Penfield (Jonathan Pryce) has made a career out of journalism. Now bankrupt, he finds himself with a group of other writers in the middle of the dispute-ridden British homeland at the time of the Falklands War.James Penfield (Jonathan Pryce) has made a career out of journalism. Now bankrupt, he finds himself with a group of other writers in the middle of the dispute-ridden British homeland at the time of the Falklands War.
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
458
YOUR RATING
    • Richard Eyre
    • Ian McEwan
  • Stars
    • Jonathan Pryce
    • William Maxwell
    • Paul Jesson
    • Richard Eyre
    • Ian McEwan
  • Stars
    • Jonathan Pryce
    • William Maxwell
    • Paul Jesson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 8User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award

    Photos14

    1 sheet
    The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    Jonathan Pryce in The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    Jonathan Pryce in The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    Jonathan Pryce in The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    Tim Curry in The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
    The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jonathan Pryce
    Jonathan Pryce
    • James Penfield
    William Maxwell
    William Maxwell
    • Journalist
    Paul Jesson
    Paul Jesson
    • Journalist
    Andy Rashleigh
    Andy Rashleigh
    • Journalist
    Christopher Fulford
    Christopher Fulford
    • Young Journalist
    David Lyon
    • Newsreader
    David de Keyser
    David de Keyser
    • Gold
    Polly Abbott
    • Gold's Assistant
    Tim Curry
    Tim Curry
    • Jeremy Hancock
    Charlie Dore
    • Susan Barrington
    Peter Walmsley
    • Bob Tuckett
    Robert Cartland
    Robert Cartland
    • Editor
    • (as Bob Cartland)
    Nat Jackley
    • Mr. Penfield
    Pearl Hackney
    Pearl Hackney
    • Mrs. Penfield
    Simon Stokes
    • Edward
    Anna Wing
    • Woman at Poetry Reading
    Ken Drury
    • Young Man at Poetry Reading
    Richard Cottan
    • Student at Poetry Reading
      • Richard Eyre
      • Ian McEwan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Part of this movie, towards the end, was set at the Conservative Party annual conference in Brighton in 1982, and was actually filmed at that event. In one shot at the conference, Penfield is seen lighting a cigarette amongst a crowd of conference delegates, and just behind his right shoulder is John Major, who succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister.
    • Goofs
      The film gives thanks to "The Women of Greenham Common," who presumably inspired the peace-camp near where James Penfield (Pryce) gets his flat tyre. The Greenham women's peace-camp had indeed been the first of its kind, near Newbury in Berkshire, and very newsworthy in the early eighties, both for its feminist leadership and its unmovable resistance to the stationing of nuclear weapons - part of NATO's nuclear umbrella initiative - on a site of formerly common land.

      However, this would be an entirely illogical route for Penfield to have taken back to London (even to TV studios in W12). He would have had to skirt London anticlockwise to the West on a ninety minute spiral detour along relatively minor roads (the M25 had huge sections yet to be constructed, whilst the M11 was already a swift route from Cambridgeshire toward Central and West London and/or Brixton).

      Far more appropriate, given Ian McEwan's strong sense of geographical location, would be a similar peace-camp then starting up just outside RAF Lakenheath near Thetford in Norfolk. Penfield's route from the North Norfolk Coast (by then already popular with arty types seeking a bolthole away from London) would have taken him right past the perimeter early on. From footage of the jets taking off, and the stated fact that the film was "filmed entirely on location in London, Brighton and Norfolk," this seems likely to be the actual location for the filming of that scene.
    • Connections
      Referenced in No 73: The Disagreement (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      War Front
      (uncredited)

      Music by Trevor Duncan

      Boosey & Hawkes Music Ltd

    User reviews8

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Something chilling this way comes
    Totally agree - have been a huge fan of this film since I saw it on Channel 4 in the mid 80's and while it's been many years since I've seen it it lingers in the mind like a cold stain,with the reprehensible character that Jonathan Pryce plays remaining one of the most mesmerising cold and self-serving people ever committed to film - the final shot,without giving it away,is breathtakingly harsh and sums up his persona in one callous masterstroke.

    It is also beautifully crafted/shot and scored,with a dark and entrancing mood maintained throughout. I've literally only just found out today it was released on DVD in the UK a couple of years ago so have ordered a copy.

    Extraordinary stuff and one of the great movies of the 1980's. Mike Wesley
    helpful•9
    0
    • mwesley-200-580249
    • Nov 27, 2014

    Details

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    • Release date
      • May 1983 (United Kingdom)
      • United Kingdom
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Oxford Circus Station, Oxford Circus, Oxford Street, London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Goldcrest Films International
      • Greenpoint Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 47 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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