This month, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the 2024 Russell Hobbs British Film Festival which was screening Steve McQueen’s Blitz, a World War II drama following 9 year old George’s action packed adventure to return home to his mother.
The opening night event itself was of course entirely ‘British themed’ from the food and beverages to the decorations – with scones and pork pies available to munch on and ‘Keep calm and enjoy British films’ posters. However, coupled with the somewhat playful decorations and theme, there was a very professional and classy atmosphere which was accentuated by the jazz band playing and the rows of champagne on the bar upon arrival.
As a part of the experience I was able to bring a plus one, which ended up being my mother. She enjoyed one of the tasty cocktails from the Glendronach pop up bar – and one or two of the pork pies as an appetiser before the popcorn.
Once you reached your seat for the screening you were met with a box of popcorn and a bag of British goodies (apple cider, tea, cookies, etc.). Before the screening commenced, the audience was greeted by festival organisers and given a sneak peek to further upcoming films screening as part of the festival.
I thought the film itself was fresh based on its take of children’s experiences during World War II. It is rare that we see a film address the war from this aspect, as we often see either the soldiers on the battlefield or the adult lives on the home front. In my opinion, it is the innocence and the blind alliance of the children to one another that made this film so heartbreaking, shocking and nerve-racking. One minute George is sitting on the roof of a train laughing with fellow run aways, the next he is watching one of them get run over on the tracks. The entire film acts as a showcase for the impacts of war on day to day life and the draining of innocence from young children who had to live through it.
One thing that did not sit right with me, however, was the pacing of the film. From my understanding, it is meant to take place over the span of 2-3 days because when Rita is finally told that George is missing it is still the afternoon of the day she sent him away, although, we have already seen George spend a night on his own. Thus, chronologically ‘Blitz’ did not make sense to me. I also think that, although the film is meant to represent the constant danger and stress of life during the war, there was too much going on, at least for me, in the time span that the film is meant to take place.
Cinematographically, on the other hand, this film was beautiful. One of my favourite details was the projections in the children’s eyes to represent the horrors that they were exposed to and encourage the audience to view the film through their perspective.
As always, Saorise Ronan delivers a breathtaking performance – if she had no dialogue in this film I would be able to tell every emotion and feeling she is trying to portray just through her facial expressions. Furthermore, Elliott Heffernan delivers a raw and emotional performance in this debut role.
Overall, despite finding the movie slightly disjointed, its unique viewpoint and cinematography aspects made it an enjoyable film.
As someone who is just starting to get involved in the industry, attending this event made me feel a sense of importance and that I was on the right track towards achieving my goal of one day having a career in the film industry. Thus, I feel very privileged to have been able to attend this premiere on behalf of Film in Revolt.