Posts Tagged ‘historical war drama’

BLITZ: 3 STARS. “deftly directed moments give the film an emotional punch.”

SYNOPSIS: In “Blitz,” a new World War II drama starring Saoirse Ronan, and now streaming on Apple TV+, nine-year-old George, resentful at being evacuated to a school in the countryside to keep him safe amidst the blitz, defiantly embarks on a journey back home as his distraught Rita searches for him.

CAST: Saoirse Ronan, Elliot Heffernan, Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, and Stephen Graham. Written, produced and directed by Steve McQueen.

REVIEW: The fire and brimstone of the Nazi bombing raids on London, so vividly portrayed in the film’s opening minutes, set the scene, but not the over-all tone of the film.

At its best “Blitz,” and McQueen, capture the tenor of the times of WWII London, particularly on the central characters, Rita (Saoirse Ronan), her father Gerald (The Jam’s Paul Weller, making his feature film debut) and young George (Elliot Heffernan).

But director Steve McQueen, who also wrote the script, has a lot on his mind and allows “Blitz” to wander as he essays the struggles of working-class day-to-day Londoners and topics frequently ignored in WWII films, racial prejudice and the contributions of women to the war effort. Add to that the biracial George’s perilous journey and you’re left with a movie that is part road trip, part social commentary and part war film.

As “Blitz” splinters off in several directions it feels unfocused, as if it’s afraid to settle on one topic for too long.

Still, Heffernan, in his film debut, impresses as George navigating his way home, meeting everyone from a kindly Nigerian air warden (Benjamin Clementine) to a Fagin-like character (Stephen Graham) who recruits the youngster to loot corpses and bombed-out buildings.

It’s a reserved performance, one that relies on his inner monologue as he is exposed to things no child should ever witness. In one poignant moment he comes across a Punch and Judy style puppet show. A small group of kids are laughing, enjoying the antics, but George cannot. His blank stare speaks to a childhood stripped away by circumstance.

George’s journey is the heart of the film, but it isn’t just about his adventures. “Blitz” is a journey of self-discovery as the youngster connects with his heritage. He has experienced racism and name calling in his young life, but, because of his quick bond with Nigerian warden Ife, he learns to take pride in his ancestry.

As usual Ronan, one of the best actors of her generation, hands in top notch work, showcasing Rita’s vulnerabilities and her steeliness.

Despite the episodic wandering of its storytelling and its flirting with clichés, “Blitz” offers up stunning visuals. For example, McQueen’s camera finds a man drinking a cup of tea, in his favorite chair, attempting to lead an ordinary life in a bombed-out building. It’s deftly directed moments like these, and George’s fraught journey, that allows the film to pack an emotional punch in its final moments.

CHURCHILL: 2 STARS. “a misleading look at modern history.”

Winston Churchill, two time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and, according to a 2002 poll, the Greatest Briton of all time, has been played on screens big and small by everyone from Orson Welles and John Houseman to John Cleese and Richard Burton. Recently John Lithgow was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance of the British Bulldog on “The Crown,” and now along comes Brian Cox as the great man in a not-so-great movie.

Set in the four day lead up to the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy, France in June, 1944 “Churchill” presents a different take on the prime minister than we’ve seen before. Cox plays him as a sixty-nine-year-old man exhausted by the weight of power, terrified of repeating the mistakes made at the bloody World War I Battle of Gallipoli. A personal and professional downward spiral following discord with Generals Eisenhower (John Slattery) and Montgomery (Julian Wadham), is slowed by intervention from the PM’s wife, the strong willed Clementine Churchill (Miranda Richardson)

Feature films are not documentaries nor are they history lessons, but “Churchill’s” fast-and-loose relationship with the truth does not play well. While it is true that Churchill did have misgivings about the D-Day invasion the timeframe has been twisted for dramatic effect. Writer Godfrey Cheshire reports that writer and historian Alex von Tunzelmann “’telescoped’ the events of Churchill’s opposition, bringing them from months earlier to the days just before the invasion.” In an effort to link Churchill’s documented depression with one of the key events of WWII she goes nonlinear with history but fails to draw any real drama from her contrived version of events.

Cox grandstands throughout, perhaps in an effort to overcompensate for the cliché dialogue. “Sometimes you can’t lead everything from the front,” he bellows as though saying it louder amplifies its meaning. The gruff portrayal falls into caricature early on and has a hard time transcending into something compelling, let alone the psychological examination director Jonathan Teplitzky had in mind.

James Purefoy as King George VI and Richardson fare better but are bowled over by a script that suffers form a lack of subtlety.

“Churchill” is a beautiful looking movie, but it isn’t history or a portrait of a real person. Instead it is a misleading look at one of the most important eras in modern history.