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Written by Mandroid3000
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HOPE AND GLORY
**** out of *****
Genres
Drama
War
World War II
1987
Written and directed by
John Boorman
Cast
Sebastian Rice-Edwards .... Bill Rowen
Geraldine Muir .... Sue Rowen
Sarah Miles .... Grace Rowen
David Hayman .... Clive Rowen
Sammi Davis .... Dawn Rowen
Derrick O'Connor .... Mac
Susan Wooldridge .... Molly
Jean-Marc Barr .... Cpl. Bruce Carrey
Ian Bannen .... Grandfather George
Annie Leon .... Grandma
Hope and Glory is about life in London during the Blitz told through the eyes of a young boy, Bill Rowen. It’s a largely autobiographical tale written, directed, and produced by John Boorman, and as such captures both the detail of the era and the sense of childhood wonder and adventure. Looking at the subject matter you might expect a grim drama, but Boorman captures all the flavours of life during the period.
When Britain declares war on Germany, Bill’s father volunteers for service. Though he ends up as a typist he still has to leave the family home. Bill’s mother, Grace, gets an offer from relatives in Australia to look after her three children during the war. Not being able to stand the loss of her whole family, she doesn’t send them. She tries to keep her family intact and carry on as normally as possible, despite the German bombardment of the city.
But for Bill, life during the blitz isn’t so bad. Sure they have to routinely run down to the air raid shelter, but this soon loses its novelty and sense of danger. With no father and ruined houses to play in everywhere, London becomes a children’s oasis. The games he plays with his friends usually involve smashing stuff, or throwing rocks at people having sex in the ruined houses. They also collect shrapnel, and run after parachuting German pilots bailing out over London.
There is certainly drama going on around him. Notably between his older sister Sue and his mother. Sue is a teenager and has started dating foreign soldiers. For her she’s at an age where the war has made her grow up fast. Grace herself, takes tentative steps to rekindling an old relationship. And occasionally a house on their street is bombed.
It’s one of the strengths of Hope and Glory that it keeps such a strict point-of-view. Bill is always a kid, he’s never given any knowledge or insight that he wouldn’t really have. And the film is never a cloying or manipulative morality tale about the horrors of war. Bill is never used as an obvious metaphor or symbol of the destruction of innocence. But, also the film isn’t about Bill coming of age, or learning an important lesson. While this may make the film see a bit unstructured and aimless at times, it means it doesn’t commit the greater sin of spoon-feeding meaning to the viewer.
Even if you’re not interested in WWII, Hope and Glory is a funny and moving childhood and family saga. If you are interested in WWII, Hope and Glory is a must-see, nicely slotting in with tales from the battlefront. There is no detail of the war outside of London, but then there are hundreds of other movies about that. And sure, it may wander at times, but a movie that captures a slice-of-life probably should.
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