Hope and Glory - Der Krieg der Kinder

Maybe it's just because of my love for history, but I really enjoyed this movie. I can understand why some may not, since it has a sort of anti-ending and very little actual 'plot.' The film is simply the portrayal of daily life for a London family--a collection of character subplots, basically.

It doesn't sound like much, but the film's strength is its characters. Besides the main little boy, there's the overzealous father, the sexually-liberated teenage sister, a hilarious grandpa, a gang of far-from-innocent little boys, and others.

Overall, watching this movie is like stepping back in time and sneaking a peek into everyday life.

I've been watching 'Hope and Glory' for almost 20 years now, since its release in 1987 and it is still a total pleasure to view. John Boorman has re-created his memories of experiences during the Blitz and produced what could have been a very cynical, black comedy. But instead of dwelling on the death and destruction he has created a delightful pastiche, almost like a fairy tale, viewed through the eyes of a boy, Bill (Boorman himself), as he adapts and revels in the collapse of all the old and comfortable patterns of his life.

I am no fan of child actors, of the Shirley Temple/Freddie Bartholomew type, but these young British actors are wonderful. Bill is played by Sebastian Rice-Davies, a kid who seems to be possessed by the humor and life experience of a 35 year old. His younger sister, Geraldine Muir, steals her scenes with her cherubic face and rapier tongue. Her commentary on sex is hilarious.

The cast is uniformly excellent, though often over-shadowed by their young colleagues. Ian Bannen once again shines as their grumpy grampa, full of vinegar and oaths. His character is revealed to the fullest extent as he shakes his fist at the power lines encroaching on his idyllic house on the river Thames, hissing out "I curse you, volt, watt and amp!" This is indicative what all has been lost prior even to the bombs falling; the advancement of what is popularly thought to be Progress.

'Hope and Glory' is a salute to a more civilized society that was dealt a death blow during The Great War (WWI) and would be buried forever after WW2, Hitler's bombs just sped up the process of the dissolution of civility and decency.

But there is hope inherent in this film. Humor survives and the links with the past are secure, as embodied in the relationship between Bill and his grandfather, they connect and that connection cannot be broken, leaving me with the thought that perhaps we can return to better days, before MTV, Jerry Springer, Enron, Bill Clinton and a government educational system that demands our conformity to some sort of ephemeral "norm".

'Hope and Glory' is endlessly thought-provoking at the same time making one laugh at the follies of human-beings.

Film-maker John Boorman's (Oscar nominated for writing and directing) semi-autobiographical account of growing up in London during the early-1940s is a wonderful sight to behold as a 9-year-old boy (Sebastian Rice-Edwards) looks at German blitz air-raids as fantastical and interesting occurrences rather than tragic happenings. But the youngster does know enough to realize that the country is in turmoil as his father (David Hayman) is out fighting in World War II, his mother (Sarah Miles) is noticeably distraught and his older sister (Sammi Davis) is having a love affair with a Canadian soldier (Jean-Marc Barr). As all this happens though Rice-Edwards and little sister Geraldine Muir just behave as if nothing was wrong. Their innocence and lack of total understanding allows them to enjoy their youth even though the world around them is in total chaos. Sometimes a lack of understanding can lead to happiness and wonder anyway. Also along for the ride is Hayman's brother (Derrick O'Connor), a man who has always secretly loved Miles (and vice versa), and Miles' eccentric father (scene-stealer Ian Bannen). Boorman grew up in London during the heated years of World War II and it is apparent that he remembers his childhood years not as a time of horror and despair, but as a time of love and lifetime discovery. This is definitely his finest picture (I never did get much out of "Deliverance" and he plummeted to new lows with "The Exorcist II: The Heretic") as he uses quietly effective characters and old-time movie-making principles to create a truly endearing motion picture masterpiece. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

John Boorman seems to be telling us this story about his own experience about the first days of the Blitz, something that might well be the case because he must have been Bill's age when WWII broke. Mr. Boorman, working with his own material creates an accurate account of what Londoners lived through that time, in vivid detail.

We are introduced to the Rohan family, at the beginning of the story. They seem to be a typical English family of the time. When the conflict starts, Clive enlists and goes away, leaving Grace, his wife and the children, Dawn, Bill and Sue to fend for themselves. The Rohan's neighborhood suffers a lot of damage during the days of the Blitz, as homes are destroyed, even the Rohan's is badly damaged. With dignity and valor the Rohans survive the worst, although the experience seems to have been forever etched in their minds, especially young Bill, who is at the center of all that goes on.

Mr. Boorman gets excellent performances all around. Notable is young Sebastian Rice-Edwards as Bill. This young actor seems to be a natural, as well as the other young children in the picture. Sarah Miles and David Hayman, as the parents, are also quite good. Sammi Davis, the teen aged Dawn discovers love and makes us care about her character. Ian Bannen, Derrick O'Connor and Susan Woolridge are seen in minor roles.

Mr. Boorman creates a nostalgic look about the horrible experience families went through during those days.

Since I first saw it, 15 years ago, a little film in a little theater, I have regarded John Boorman's recollections of life as a grade-schooler during "The Blitz" as astonishing. Over the years I've used the movie to bring to life the very points that Anna Freud makes in her diaries of the "War Nurseries" she ran in Hampstead. While the movie is always entertaining, it nevertheless shows the effects on kids and families of life at home during a war: the separations, the losses, the physical damage, the inflammation of aggressive impulses in normal kids, the loosening of parental control over adolescents, the dropping of the curtains we use to keep kids from seeing more than they ought to. The film is wonderfully English, with customary attention to period detail, and a great collection of eccentric and memorable secondary characters. You've just got to see the geography lesson, featuring a middle-aged martinet school-marm who whacks away at a world map, using her pointer to punctuate her lesson on the vastness of England's pre-war empire. I have seen this movie on video, and can say that it translates well to the small screen. In fact it was created for British TV. See it. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And don't tell anyone--You'll learn something, too.