As an Oscar-winning director 12 years of slaverySteve McQueen is an expert at approaching famous historical horrors from revelatory new angles, and an expert at combining mainstream thrills with innovation reminiscent of his early career as a groundbreaking visual artist. I’ve proven that. That’s what he’s trying to do again with Blitz, the opening film at the London Film Festival. A major drama about the bombing of London by German planes during World War II, it explores what it was like to endure such an ordeal, one that people continue to endure today. They’re trying to show us once again, and they’re almost successful. There are certainly enough unique and inspired sequences to make it worth a watch. But “Blitz” doesn’t have the same impact as “The Night Goes” or McQueen’s other films (“The Hunger”, “Shame”). One obvious difference is that “The Night Falls” is based on the record of one person’s life, whereas “Blitz” seems to be based on an entire library of research material. For a director who also wrote the screenplay, there’s too much material to summarize. An engaging story with a consistent tone.
The main character is George (Elliot Heffernan), a nine-year-old mixed-race boy who lives in the working-class east end of London with his white mother Rita, played by Saoirse Ronan, and his grandfather, played by Locke. Roll legend Paul Weller. (He is competent enough, but I can think of 20 suitable actors off the top of my head who would have done a better job.) In September 1940, George’s family announced that he would not be with them any longer. Deciding that it is not safe, he has to join the many evacuees who are crammed onto a train headed for the countryside. But George has other ideas and decides to jump off the train and return to London. But traveling alone around the capital is always dangerous enough for a nine-year-old. It’s much more dangerous when bombs are being dropped.
