Blitz (2024)

 

                “Blitz” is a new made-for-AppleTV feature. It was directed by Steve McQueen and he wrote the script. He was inspired by a picture he saw of a black boy sitting at the railway station with his suitcase waiting to be evacuated from London. Hans Zimmer did the score and tried to make it horrific and dissonant. That was to reflect the nightly bombing of civilians in London during the Blitz.

                McQueen uses a young mother and her son to exemplify what families went through during the raids. The film is set in London in September, 1940. Rita (Saoirse Ronan) is a factory worker making bombs (how ironic!). She makes the heartbreaking decision to have her son George (Elliot Hefferman) evacuated to the countryside. He is reluctant to go and jumps off the moving train and heads back home. His odyssey begins. The movie is a series of vignettes intercut with Rita searching for her son or flashbacks to her prewar life with her black husband. George becomes a hobo by hopping a train. He befriends three brothers who are riding in the box car. He meets a sympathetic black air raid warden named Ife (Benjamin Clementine). He is used by a gang to steal from bombed out buildings. He is in a subway station when it is flooded. It’s an interesting two days for the plucky Brit.

                The movie was a labor of love for McQueen and he clearly made it to comment on an historical event and link it to racism in Great Britain in 1940. Rita’s husband goes to jail for defending himself from racists. George has to contend with bullies who hate him because of the color of his skin. McQueen is fairly subtle about the racism theme. George’s most dangerous incidents do not involve racism. There is also commentary about the sexism that British women faced at that time. McQueen’s inclusion of those themes is commendable, but since there is only one other good movie on the Blitz (“Hope and Glory”), there was room for grittier take on the Blitz without highlighting the insignificant racism that existed at the time. But he is a black director and he can emphasize what he wants. The movie does a good job informing the audience about what it was like to live in London during the Blitz. It helps that the movie, although not claiming to be a true story, includes some historical people and incidents.

                “Blitz” is the kind of war movie where I shake my head while viewing, wondering if a seemingly made-for-entertainment scene actually took place. I was surprised to find that McQueen did do some research. *** Spoiler Alert! There was a subway station that got flooded. A bomb created a crater in the street and a bus fell into it, cutting a water main. 64 civilians were killed, but more would have died if a nine-year-old boy had not helped open a gate. The jazz club Café de Paris was destroyed by a bomb which killed 34, including singer Kim “Snakehips” Johnson. Ife was based on a Nigerian air raid warden named Ita Ekpenyon.  He did stop segregation in one of the stations. There was some anti-semitism with some claiming the Jews were “hogging” the best spots underground. The humane man who provided shelter and medical care was based on Mickey Davies (Leigh Gill). Davies was instrumental in getting national health care, so he deserved a shoutout.

                The film can be viewed as a companion to “Hope and Glory”. Both movies concentrate on a boy. H&G is more whimsical and does not attempt to recreate the tragedy of the terrorist bombing of London. “Blitz” does a better job of depicting the more realistic impact the raids had on London. The Blitz started on Sept. 7, 1940. At one point, London was bombed 56 times over 57 days. The movie is accurate in portraying the governments attempt to lock up the railway stations. It gave up after about a week. Up to 150,000 took advantage of it each night. McQueen does a good job showing why people crowded into the underground. There are two scenes involving firefighters that give the vibe of a battle against fire. We get a unique view of a firefighter downed by friendly fire from a rogue hose. It is estimated that 43,500 civilians lost their lives in the Blitz. 1 in 6 were left homeless. The movie implies a lot more than that. Whole neighborhoods are destroyed. 800,000 kids were evacuated to small towns and rural areas. The movie substitutes racism for the “Blitz spirit” that kept the British people from demanding negotiations with Hitler.

                “Blitz” is not a bad movie, but it could have been better. McQueen was more interested in commenting on peripheral issues than giving a true picture of a typical British family during the Blitz. George’s family is atypical and what he goes through did not happen to any boy during the Blitz. It ends up being a war movie that will be enjoyed by viewers who are not war movie fans. War movie buffs will probably find it has too much button pushing.

GRADE  =  C