Fuga in Normandia

So much to enjoy in this film. Caine and Jackson are superb. Glenda died soon after completing work on the film and Michael has more than hinted that this might be his final film. That being the case, what a tremendous film for them both to go out on. The film is beautifully photographed on the English south coast and in France and has a gorgeous score by Craig Armstrong that supports and enhances the narrative. A story of determination, love, life, death and hope. The story is simple but none the worse for that. Set in 2014, Bernie and Rene live in a carehome in Hove. Bernie decides to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy despite missing out on a place on the offical trips. So he gets a bus from Hove to Dover and travels by ferry to france. The film tells the story of the people he meets and places he goes. Poignent and sad but also life affirming this is a fabulous film. However, when we saw it we were the only people in the cinema and I read it has so far failed to find a distributor for the US market. I sense this could find it's audience when shown on TV and it wouldn't surprise if BBC are saving it to show next June as part of the 80th anniversary celebrations.

A film that is quite emotional as a D-Day veteran 'escapes' the confines (not in a jailbreak sense) of his care home to attend the 70th anniversary in France, causing a media frenzy in the process!

Michael Caine and the late Glenda Jackson give wonderful performances as the elderly couple in the care home, Caine playing Bernie the veteran in question and Jackson, Rene his devoted wife who covers up for him as much as possible and encourages him to follow his destiny.

I am used to seeing the two actors in their pomp in sixties and seventies films so this is quite a change.

Look out for good supporting performances from the care home staff and fellow D-Day veterans some with their own demons.

The film uses brief flashback timelines to show the horrors of the D-Day events in the Second World War. However the film is not all excising demons and dwelling on past stressful events. There is plenty of humour as Bernie (Caine) makes the trip and meets up with fellow vets both Allied and German.

Having missed an organised trip to the 70th anniversary of The D-Day landings, 90 year old Bernard John makes his own way to France, leaving behind his wife and care home.

I suppose I'd start by saying that I didn't want this film to end, magical from beginning to end. Bernard's story touched many people, I remember it being on The BBC news back in 2014.

They could have made the film overly sentimental or too sobre, but they struck the perfect mix, it's heartfelt, touching, inspiring and amusing, it's such a moving, real life story.

Several times it tugged away at the heart strings, the most powerful moment for me where Bernard say with The Germans, I had a lump in my throat.

The acting was truly incredible, it's the best I've seen from Michael Caine for many years, the emotion he put into this was quite something. What a send of for the late, great Glenda Jackson, again, a superb performance, the chemistry between her and Caine was noticeable.

John Standing also added to the mix, another actor who'd graced our screens for so long, wonderful.

One I'll happily watch over.

10/10.

A fabulous cast with amazing performances demonstrating why Jackson and Caine are so highly regarded. Covers many difficult topics - longevity, friendship, guilt, trauma, illness, alcoholism, forgiveness and redemption. My husband and I both cried on a number of occasions, but there was also some great humour - we laughed, we cried, we enjoyed the cinematography. I'm not sure it was a true reflection of the average care home, it all seemed a bit too lovely. An effective juxtaposition with the couple as their younger selves, which was well cast. My only criticism was I felt the shoe horning into the plot of the traumatised much younger modern soldier didn't really work and for some reason those scenes jarred. It felt like an editor had requested the writers add them in later and it didn't quite work. A lovely film, but take some tissues.

The world will probably never forget the Normandy landings for a variety of reasons.

1 of those is because it was a time of huge sacrifice, pain and suffering, leading to joyous success.

But then despite lives lived in the intervening years by the survivors, the story of sacrifice, pain and suffering continues for all concerned.

"There's no escape for anyone", but at least those who survived "Made a life worth living".

The roles of Bernard and Irene were played with such nuance and intelligence by Caine and Jackson that it brought me to tears. 90 and 87 years old respectively and they still act with such grace and authenticity. They reminded me of what made this country and what helped make the world a relatively peaceful place afterwards.

But people like Bernard live an unseen life, with all of their memories usually forgotten when they die. Which is sad because war is about people, experiences, and memories, and when the people die the memories die with them.

This film should stand as a tribute to the very few who are left, and remind us to make a life, so that the ones who lost their lives didn't do so in vain.