Movies tend to ask us all the big questions. What's the meaning of our existence? How much would you sacrifice for something? What will a popstar do in order to stay on top? Where do we go when there's nothing left? Would you risk it all just to get back to Saoirse Ronan? Movies, you know.
Writer-director Steve McQueen's new war drama Blitz dares to ask one or more of those very questions, using the relentless bombing of London during World War II by Nazi Germany as a highly volatile backdrop. Ronan's character Rita is getting ready to send her nine-year-old son George (Elliott Heffernan) away from the city as kids are being evacuated to less dangerous areas. He isn't happy about this and just outside the city, he jumps off the train transporting the kids. Determined to get back home to Rita and grandpa Gerald (Paul Weller), George finds out that the journey might be more treacherous than he expected. Meanwhile, when Rita learns that her son didn't arrive at the destination, she tries to figure out his whereabouts.
Though now part of the collection of movies set during wartime and with plenty of tragedy affecting its characters, McQueen's effort has a bit of a different approach to its storytelling, mainly due to one of the two main perspectives. As we follow George on his journey, the film has a wistful but peppy feeling of adventure powering its very own steam engine, something that you may recognise from old and modern classics that feature child protagonists, but that are more grounded dramas or comedies with lesser stakes. But when we see things from Rita's POV, McQueen and his collaborators are making the kind of movie you'd perhaps expect; a classical, morose, fairly clinical portrait of desperation and uncertainty. This type of juxtaposition is intriguing and sometimes works really well but there are also pieces in this puzzle that don't quite connect.
The classical side of filmmaking is not the problem in the slightest here as the marching orders have clearly been heard. Adam Stockhausen's production design combines remarkable depth of ruins and neighbourhoods with intricate decor indoors, blending well with SFX and VFX (supervised by Andrew Whitehurst) in more elaborate sequences, too. Cinematographer Yorick Le Saux captures and fills those spaces with elegant lighting while Jacqueline Durran's costumes and Naomi Donne's hair and makeup design bring some colourful life amidst all the death. The soundscape is also crucial to our immersion as the sound mix underlines the characters' peril and there are some flashier touches too when music, longer takes and crowds are part of a sequence.
With the two sides trying to reunite in the middle, however, McQueen's writing and direction is much stronger when we follow George. There are stirring set pieces, a real sense of momentum and memorable supporting players and characters—including Ife, a charming raid warden, played wonderfully by Benjamin Clementine who really makes an impact when Ife shows up to guide George. It's a short stint but one of those where an actor just simply understood exactly what was required of them, Clementine breathing dignity, warmth and sincerity into a film that desperately needed those things. Heffernan gives an okay performance throughout, expressing his character's grit and fear decently, but even his acting goes up a notch in scenes he shares with Clementine.
George's arc also gets beyond the more straightforward themes like survival, familial love and bravery as it's evident that when his white mom isn't by his side, the society can only see him as a black boy, and specifically as someone who's unimportant, someone who you can trample over, someone whose life matters less, even completely expendable at worst. Those moments definitely aren't subtle but they're not intended to be, it seems.
Rita's side of the story is less effective as we get overdone flashbacks and strange encounters (Harris Dickinson's friendly firefighter named Jack, for example) that not only disrupt the flow of the film but are also emptier thematically and emotionally. Therefore, the structure isn't supporting the story enough because those lulls affect the aforementioned momentum. Blitz wants you to be invested in the reunion between George and Rita, which is the crux even if it would also come with tragedy, but it's quite one-sided when McQueen's script gives Rita—and Ronan by extension—pointless distractions. All of this is why the very ending earns nothing more than a shrug. Something is clearly missing from the last few images emotionally, and considering how the camera, performances and music are directing you towards a touching final note, it is a disappointment when you're just not feeling any of it.
Luckily, disappointment does not define the entire project. Featuring those world-class technical flourishes and a talented troupe of actors immersed in the chaos, Blitz is still an impressively crafted adventure even if it might not fully meet your sky-high expectations. At the very least, the creative approach is refreshing if you've ever before seen a war drama or 600 of them.
Smileys: Production design, sound mixing, Benjamin Clementine
Frowneys: Ending, structure
Getting hit by a train will stop you dead in your tracks.
3.5/5
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