3.0 out of 5 star rating
As a war survivor who lived through the tumultuous times of the London Blitz, I find Steve McQueen’s film, Blitz, to be a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, it captures the raw intensity and horror of those days with impressive technical prowess, making me feel like I’ve been transported back in time. The scenes of the bombing raids and the flooded underground station are particularly harrowing, evoking memories I’d rather forget.
In a heart-rending plea, Elliott Heffernan’s character George cries out, “I need to be with you,” in the intense World War 2 drama directed by Steve McQueen, titled Blitz.
As his mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) prepares to part ways, he is among the numerous kids scheduled for evacuation from London, during a time when the city was regularly targeted by Nazi bombers in their relentless air raids, causing widespread terror.
Forced onto a train, George, with a mother who is white and a father who is black, encounters prejudice from certain children traveling with him. Frustrated by this treatment, he leaps off the moving train in an attempt to return to London to locate his mom.
At home, Rita learns that someone is missing, causing her great distress. A flashback reveals that George originated from a short-lived relationship Rita had with a man she met at a jazz club. The only significant male figure in the boy’s life is his grandfather (Paul Weller), who advises George to face bullies because they’re “all talk and no action.
In a munitions factory, Rita is part of an all-female team, constructing explosives meant to ward off the Germans. This particular scene from McQueen’s film stands out, capturing the friendship and camaraderie among them, as they share laughter and moments of joy, such as when Rita sings to boost morale.
Regrettably, despite its potential, McQueen’s over-the-top portrayals of characters detract from the film’s quality. For instance, Joshua McGuire, playing the foreman at Rita’s workplace, appears to be giving a poor imitation of Arthur Lowe. Matters become more questionable as George returns to the city and suddenly appears to have traveled through time, seemingly ending up in Victorian London, where he encounters a band of miscreants led by a Fagin-esque Stephen Graham. The role of Kathy Burke is also excessively caricatured, offering little subtlety as she portrays a Dickensian grotesque.
Blitz’s exceptional technical skills make it strikingly impressive in its epic portrayal. From the very start, as a firefighter struggles to manage his hose amidst the burning chaos of the Blitz, the movie skillfully conveys the terrors that ordinary people experienced daily.
As a movie buff, I must say one particularly captivating moment is when the underground station gets flooded – it’s an impressive showcase of McQueen’s action prowess honed from his last film, the gripping 2018 thriller Widows. Kudos should also be extended to production designer Adam Stockhausen for his exceptional work in recreating a post-bombing environment.
In Blitz, much emphasis is placed on painting a varied image of London during the 1940s, an aspect that is not usually highlighted. Unlike many portrayals of World War 2 which focus on unity against a common adversary, McQueen presents a society where such unity was not prevalent.
Beneath the apparent tranquility, racism simmers subtly, while antisemitism is found to be widespread. In the movie, there’s a glimpse of Mickey Davies (portrayed by Leigh Gill), a genuine individual who played a significant role in transforming Spitalfields Fruit and Wool Exchange into a refuge.
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As George encounters the generosity of various people, especially Nigerian warden Ife (Benjamin Clémentine), who assists him during his difficult time, Rita’s narrative doesn’t progress much. She briefly entertains a romance with a fireman, portrayed by Harris Dickinson, but for the most part, she finds herself worrying without significant developments in her storyline.
McQueen’s film seems somewhat uncertain about its identity, as it appears to blend elements of wartime love story, a narrative focused on mother and son, and a sociological record.
To be honest, among McQueen’s films, Blitz is the most commercially oriented and significantly less impactful than his 2008 debut Hunger, its sequel Shame, or the Academy Award-winning 12 Years a Slave. The film’s episodic narrative doesn’t do it many favors. At one instance, he is depicted gazing at the vibrant lights of Hamley’s toy store on Regent Street.
It feels like a fairytale, all very unreal – despite the true horrors that London was facing.
Blitz is now showing in UK cinemas.
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2024-11-01 19:04