Way of the Morris (2011)

• 71%
• 2011
• Documentary
• Tim Plester
• Rob Curry
• Tim Plester
• Billy Bragg
• Chris Leslie

As quintessentially homegrown as a game of cricket or a plate of fish-and-chips, Morris dancing is one of Englands most ancient roots traditions. And yet to your average man on the street, its seen as little more than a national joke. And a bad national joke at that. Something to ridicule. Something to be embarrassed about.Things have always been a little different for actor and filmmaker Tim Plester. Tim hails from a family of Morris dancers, and was raised in the quiet North Oxfordshire village of Adderbury; a community with a proud and fertile dancing history stretching back through the centuries. The tinkling of the shin-bells is part of his heritage. Part of his legacy. Part of his very folklore. And yet, despite the connections, Tim doesn't dance. Never hasA heartfelt docu-ballad in praise of birthplace, bloodline and rural brotherhood, WAY OF THE MORRIS follows Tim on a deeply personal journey from the barleyfields of his childhood to the killing fields of The Somme, as he traces the poignant link between the spirited folk revival of the mid-1970s and the true story of the young Adderbury Morris side so decimated by the carnage of the First World War.Featuring contributions from singer/songwriter Billy Bragg and Fairport Conventions Chris Leslie, and utilizing treasured home-movie footage and rare village archive, what emerges is a timely and evocative exploration of the origins and impulses behind the Morris, and an attempt to understand its curious place within enchanted Britannia's ongoing story.