Blitz (2024)
Oscar winner Steve McQueen writes and directs Blitz, a star studded World War 2 (to the Brits, the Yanks call it “The War” because they like to pretend World War 1 didn’t happen for some reason) film about a young mother (Saoirse Ronan) whose young son absconds en route to being evacuated out of London’s East End to the countryside, where his allergies to fresh air and reduced crime will be triggered.
It happens that this boy, George* (Elliott Heffernan- better than the other kids), has a black father and white mother, and unsurprisingly this does come up. Racial tensions and attitudes are a theme and I felt were handled sensitively yet firmly given Blitz’s certification. McQueen didn’t feel the need to go full 12 Years a Slave, because he didn’t need to; racism in the 1940’s was just as dumb as racism has always been, but it was an engaging subtext.
Engaging is a good word for Blitz, because once you get past the frankly awful child acting at the start, once George finds his way back to the big smoke, and fire, and rubble and bombs and death and crime, things get a lot more exciting. His Odyssey through London’s many characters and situations is, while never an all out adrenaline rush, quietly captivating.
For those who grew up in London or the South East, particularly of an age who had family who remembered the Blitz, the film’s history is fascinating and in places notably accurate. Events reflect actual horrors of the time we learned about in school and from those first hand accounts. My Grandad was evacuated, and loved his time in the country and nature so much he made his career as an artist specialising in animals.
A carousel of cameos and small but memorable roles flesh Blitz’s wandering narrative out. Most notable are Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke’s terrifying and unhinged war criminals. Benjamin Clémentine’s air raid warden Ife is a light in the darkness, which ironically is what air raid wardens were there to stop and, despite the child actors being shit, their appearance does set the tone for the danger George is about to face.
The events of the sky above London are believable and impressive, though their effects on the city and citizens are the real focus. Blitz won’t stun you into silence with sheer power, but it is an increasingly gripping and believable (child actors aside) portrayal of an unprecedented time in Britain’s history.
I would happily sit through Blitz again with my niece and nephew, to give them an idea of a history that I got from my grandparents, but they sadly can’t. A very solid and recommended 7/10.
* Boy George, arf.
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