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British filmmaker Steve McQueen has reached that point in his illustrious career where one assumes he essentially gets a carte blanche to make whichever films he is most motivated to make. From his Oscar-winning epic 12 Years a Slave to the poignant Amazon mini-series anthology Small Axe to the Chicago-made crime drama Widows, his work is always daring, always impressive.
So one would be forgiven for approaching his latest, World War II drama Blitz, with a certain sense of anticipation. It's always exciting to see what a filmmaker of such acclaim is up to next. And the film, which chronicles a young single mother and her school-aged son as they navigate the nerve-wracking bombings that targeted London during the depths of the war, is indeed a beautifully crafted period piece with strong central performances and a moving narrative about the power of family to see us through crisis. Yet on the whole—and despite McQueen's best efforts to build a connection between his audience and the family's plight—the film still falls just short of resonant.
Saoirse Ronan stars as Rita, a single mother raising her mixed-race son, George (Elliot Heffernan), in East London where they live in a row house with her father, Gerald (Paul Weller). We meet the trio as the war is already raging and London has implemented curfews, blackouts and more to keep its residents safe as Germany blasts the heart of the city with bombs. After one scary night spent in the tunnels of the Underground for safety, Rita finally decides to send George off with the thousands of other children evacuated from London without their families for their own safety. George, defiant and already the confident young man of the household, does not take this news well and shouts at his mum on the train platform as he runs away from her to begrudgingly board the train that will take him to safer horizons.
Rita returns to work in a factory now fully populated by women after all able men have gone off to fight, and we get a glimpse into her life pre-war as she's selected to sing during a live radio broadcast from the factory floor. She has the voice of an angel, and we soon realize that music is a through line for the family; in flashbacks we not only come to understand how Rita met George's father (at a nightclub where the two dance the night away) but how shared family time around the piano has bonded the three of them. All of this of course establishes a sense of warmth and affection for Rita and George, yet the story unfolds as if going through the motions, every twist and turn seeming to be signaled from a mile away or so undeniably convenient they strain credulity.
Once on the children's train, George is bullied and further convinced he shouldn't be leaving his mother, so he gathers his things and leaps from the train before it's barely left the city proper. The rest of the film turns into a fantastical journey for young George on the backdrop of the war and all the depraved and dangerous things humans are capable of during times of conflict. He navigates his way back to his mother through unexpected obstacles and with the help of some kind (and not so kind) strangers. Before long, it's clear that George is little more than a vehicle for McQueen's larger intentions of chronicling the dichotomy of both our collective resilience and depravity during wartime.
Throughout the film, I found myself navigating a dichotomy of my own, one that felt deep empathy for Rita, George and all they were confronted with while struggling to decipher any rhyme or reason to the proceedings overall. Why this family? Why this moment in time? Why these particular (and often heavy-handed) obstacles and hardships?
As a fable that distills its broader messages down to one stand-in family with All The Things to worry about (racism, elder care, workers' rights, and the big one: war), Blitz is an engaging enough drama that takes its audience on a dramatic (if ultimately uninspired) journey where at every turn we're reminded of what it took to survive such a perilous moment in history, namely a community of fellow human beings, regardless of color, creed or religion, who look out for each other and show up in whatever ways they can. Ronan has certainly done better work than what she contributes here, but she's nothing if not committed, and the she gives the film enough star power to make it worth a mild recommendation.
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