With a big holiday mere days away. this week’s new film reflects on families that can’t be together, certainly not for the “big feast”. And not by choice as it focuses on a dark time when the whole world was indeed at war. World War II is the setting for this drama. inspired by so many true events of the time. At the heart of this tale is a decision so difficult it may be tough for a modern audience to comprehend. But it was done. But there’s also the fervent desire to reunite, to return to the family unit, no matter how fractured or how dangerous. That’s because death was literally in the air and all around during the time of the BLITZ.
As the film begins we watch as bombs drop from a German bomber flying over London in 1940 (a year or so before the US joined the fight). Rita (Saoirse Ronan) is a single mother living with her widowed dad Gerald (Paul Weller) and trying to raise her mixed-race son George (Elliott Heffernan). As they return from an air raid shelter, she must prepare for a heartbreaking journey. For George, alone. In order to escape the near-nightly bombing of the city, the government sent children via train to live with families in the countryside until the city was back to normal (nobody knew when). George is furious and refuses to say goodbye to his Mum as he boards the train. The other kids in his train car mock him over his darker skin and thick curly hair. But George has a plan. While his seatmate sleeps he grabs his seatcase. opens the door to the outside connecter, and leaps off the speeding locomotive. He’s bruised but still determined and begins walking the rail to hop onto a train heading in the opposite direction AKA home. Meanwhile, Rita sadly goes back to work with her girlfriends at the munitions plant. At least she’ll get to sing on the radio when the BBC drops in. George does have some luck in jumping into an open boxcar of a passing train where he’s befriended by a group of other young “returnees”. The danger really begins as they try to elude the “bulls” in the London train yard. George makes it back to London, but it’s still a long long way from Mum. During his journey, he is helped by a friendly African immigrant air raid warden named Ife (Benjamin Clemente) and is later “recruited” into a gang of looters led by the unhinged Albert (Stephen Graham). Back at the factory, Rita learns from the relocation agents that George didn’t make it to the country. She then leaves the plant to look for him and enlists the help of a young fireman who is smitten with her, named Jack (Harris Dickinson). But even with their combined efforts, can they find George before he becomes another casualty in the war-ravaged heart of Britain?
Making his screen (big or small) debut is Heffernan, who is really the focus of this historical fable, despite the film vet that gets top billing in the marketing. He’s completely captivating as George, who can be sweet, soulful, fearful, and frustrating (verging on bratty) often within the same scene. He projects a real vulnerability as he’s taunted by the local kids, and transfers a bit of that cruelty as his mother makes a terrible decision that is for the best, though it doesn’t ease her heartache. We root for George when he triumphs and hold our breath as he tries to survive. Also running the gamut of emotions is vet Ronan as Rita, a working-class woman trying to shield her child from the horrors of war, while dealing with the heartache of losing her partner to the prejudices of the time (George’s papa is sent back to his faraway island birthplace). After Rita sends her son to safety, she’s near-catatonic until her chance at radio fame revives her a bit. When she gets the news of George’s train jumps, she goes into “mama grizzly” mode as we see the determination in Ronan’s eyes. Kudos to the strong supporting players, especially Clemente as the caring and gentle Ife who connects with George and to Graham as Albert who only wishes to exploit and deceive the lad (think of him as a psychotic Fagin).
This WW II family odyssey comes from writer/director Steve McQueen who expertly recreates the period’s look and emotions of fear and dread as sunset doesn’t bring rest and relief, but the threat of sudden decimation. We can almost smell the wounded and dying as the camera takes us through piles of rubble that were home just moments ago. It’s a story that has been recalled in films set in that era (HOPE AND GLORY) and other lands (LION), with great parallels to another wartime family reunion, EMPIRE OF THE SUN with a touch of the NARNIA series. Still, McQueen provides a fresh take thanks to the strong cast and several haunting set pieces. The sudden slaughter at the train yard is real nightmare fuel. that’s especially true as we go inside a swanky nightclub that operates as though all is normal outside its door. And then we hear the sirens and the whizzing sounds (cutting to the great shots of the bombs coming at us through the clouds). After a flash cut, we’re next to Albert and his crew of ghouls as they pry away jewelry as the rescue teams look away. As the story concludes, we’re running through those crumbling streets as this story of family love proves to be stronger than any damage inflicted by the BLITZ.
3 Out of 4
Blitz is playing in select theatres and streams exclusively on Apple TV+ beginning on Friday, November 22, 2024
