Review of Hope and Glory (1987) by Ashley S — 22 Jul 2008

Filmmaker John Boorman's unique memory piece based upon his childhood during WWII London provides plenty of pleasures, chief among them a compelling sense of how a young boy views a war that affects every aspect of his family's life.

This is refreshingly not a patriotic history lesson about bravery on the home front but a genuinely evocative, often humorous film full of broad characters and small-scale events that seem to capture perfectly how a nine-year old would remember them.

The 1987 film is full of shrewdly observed vignettes, nostalgic but never sentimental and sometimes with a welcome absurdist sense of humor that surprises and delights. I particularly like the almost surreal scene where the deflating dirigible is flailing downward from the sky to the immense entertainment of the locals.

The one periodic drawback to the film is Boorman's episodic story structure, which makes the narrative feel linear and lacking in dimension beyond the immediate events portrayed. This becomes more problematic during the later scenes when the pacing slows somewhat with a long cricket-playing sequence between Billy and his grandfather.

Nonetheless, what is inarguable is the superb casting, in particular, Sarah Miles as Grace, especially when she grapples with her unresolved feelings for her neighbor Mac; Sammi Davis as Dawn, forever petulant even when she finds herself in an unfortunate predicament; Ian Bannen in full late-period Olivier mode as he steals all his scenes as the blustery grandfather; and in his only film, Sebastian Rice-Edwards who holds the whole film together as Billy.

Special credit needs to be given to cinematographer Phillipe Rousselot, who gives the film a sumptuous look even during the bombing sequences.