Britain at war: DVD reviews
It’s easy to view the Second World War as just history, something long in the past that’s as irrelevant to our lives as the Romans or the Greeks. It’s not. This conflict still stands like a colossus over British public life, shaping attitudes there not only to England's neighbors (the French, the Germans) but to her friends (Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders.) Understanding what happened then helps you understand the country of today.
Britain held out against the Nazis, alone, for two years. London took the brunt of that effort. In all, 43,000 Londoners died; 1,400,000 Londoners were made homeless. 1.4 million. Just think about that for a second. In the worst night of the Blitz, 3,000 died. Thirty years later they were still rebuilding parts of the capital.
None of us who weren't there can hope to imagine what life was like then, but movies can be an excellent way of getting the feel of Britain at war. It wasn't all about battles and conflict; the home front was important too. Here are some of my favorites, and I recommend them all.
Fires Were Started (1943)
This is probably the film that shows the reality of the London Blitz more than any other; the bone-shattering drudgery of fighting fires night after night to try and save the city. It could have been a blatant propaganda film extolling the efforts of the valiant firemen; it’s not. It’s far, far better than that. A docu-drama, none of it was shot on a set but instead showed the real lives of real firemen, and filmed while the war – like the fires – was still raging. If you can get hold of a - rare - copy of this film it's certainly worth a watch if you want to have any idea what it must have been like for those people at the forefront of the Blitz, struggling to do what they could in the face of tens of millions of tonnes-worth of bombs raining from the sky. Moving and powerful, in an understated way.
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
A supreme weepie, this movie starts in World War Two on London's Waterloo Bridge (it's still there and you'll almost certainly cross it if you're coming to visit London) only to flashback within minutes to the bombing raids of World War One. London was attacked sporadically then by zeppellins, hard as it is to believe, and it's during one of these raids that a young girl and her soldier boyfriend begin to fall in love. The boy of course must go to fight on the European front and after a tearful farewell, the girl – Vivien Leigh – mistakenly recieves news that her lover has been killed. She lapses into poverty and misery. This movie's backdrop is London, with key scenes being filmed in streets round Waterloo Station which are still almost the asme. Whilst it deals with the First World War, the plot could hardly have resonated more strongly for its audience on its release in 1940; a tearful, beautiful film for uncertain times.
Brief encounter
The war is drawing to an end, but the legacy remains. In a suburban railway station a drama of the highest passion plays out. In the waiting room, a married woman casts her eyes on a doctor; they being an affair so that she can escape from her loveless marriage. The emotion is so restrained yet so real that the film is essentially a tour de force of what it is like to be English. The haunting music by Rachmaninov and the beautiful cinematography make this one of the most restrained but romantic films ever shot, with a lingering wistfulness that stays with you long after the end credits roll. It was shot in the tiny Carnforth Station in Lancashire because of the risk from bombing in London but casts a spotlight on what it was like to live in England at the end of the war.
Canterbury Tale, A (1944)
En route from London to a small Kent village, an unlikely trio meet on a train. Two soldiers – one British, one American – and a farm girl become friends. But once they arrive at the village strange things begin to happen; the girl is subjected to a terrifying and odd attack by the mysterious ‘glue man.’ As the three investigate, they’re drawn into the history of the area, the Canterbury tales of Chaucer in the 1300s. If it sounds a strange film, it is, but it’s utterly engrossing too. There’s not a battle scene in sight but don't be fooled; this IS a war film. By the end of the movie you know with blazing insight exactly what are the values they’re fighting for. And what's more, you believe in them too. Well worth a watch.
Buy it now at Amazon.com!
In Which We Serve
“This is the story of a ship,” ring out the clipped English tones at the beginning of this movie; it’s not, at least, not just. Yes, it tells the tale of the fictional HMS Torrin in the (far from-fictional) battle off Crete in the Aegean Sea. But it is as well the story of a society and the story of a war. And at its heart, it’s all about duty too. A stirring, patriotically English film, it’s one of the prime pieces of watchable propaganda the war produced. It stars Noel Coward, in his first major motion picture and was directed by a young David Lean who went on to great things by directing Lawrence of Arabia and other modern cinematic classics. In Which We Serve really evokes the era and the horror of being at war -and loving someone who's at war - as well as being a wonderful film to see anytime.
Buy it now at Amazon.com!
The Battle of Britain (1969)
It’s hard to recall a more action-packed movie about the Battle of Britain than this. Made decades after the end of the war, it brings some historical perspective to the conflict and feels closer to us because it’s in color. Most of all though it’s a tub-thumping patriotic tribute to the courage of the young men – many little more than 20 – who stood almost alone to defend the skies of England in her darkest days. Stars Michael Caine and a host of acting glitterati, it’s well worth a watch.
If you’re travelling to London and you're interested in the war, and it's effect on the capital then I'd recommend picking up a copy of Walking the London Blitz
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