Saoirse Ronan, left, and Elliott Heffernan in Blitz.The Associated Press
- Blitz
- Written and Directed by Steve McQueen
- Starring Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, Paul Weller
- Classification: PG-13; 120 minutes
As images of German bombs raining down on London in 1940 take over the movie screen, eerily whistling through the air, giving way to what seem like images of static, you can’t help but think about the wars unfolding right now in Gaza and Ukraine. Director Steve McQueen’s latest film, Blitz, gets its name from the German word blitzkrieg, meaning “lightning war” – referring to the Nazi military’s method of offensive warfare, as the opening credits tell us. While it may depict events of the past, its relevance to the present couldn’t be more striking.
The film centres on the mother-son duo of Rita (Saoirse Ronan) and George (Elliott Heffernan). Rita is a single mother, raising George with some help from her father Gerald (Paul Weller) in Stepney, East London. It’s a solidly working-class neighbourhood, and Rita works at the munitions factory along with other women. There’s a kind of a stiff-upper-lip resolve to their lives, as Londoners keep calm and carry on.
However, when an air raid siren goes off, and Rita rushes George and her father to a nearby underground tube station, the authorities keep the doors locked. The people manage to get the gates opened, and scramble for shelter. Rattled by that experience, Rita returns home and makes the difficult decision to send George off by train to the countryside to keep him safe – as other mothers are doing.
Nine-year-old George doesn’t agree, and manages to sneak off the train, determined to make his way back to Rita and Gerald. Adventure ensues, during which George meets several people: gentle air raid warden Ife (Benjamin Clementine) and a group of thieves led by Albert and Beryl (Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke), among others. Growing up as a biracial child, he’s already faced some facts of life – even though Rita and Gerald are fiercely protective of him in their own ways. But left his devices, George learns some harsh lessons, sprinkled with moments of hope.
In a Q&A following an advance screening, McQueen talked about how he’d come across an image of a small Black boy standing with a large suitcase on a train platform, while researching his anthology film Small Axe. Acutely aware of London’s war-history, he’d been thinking since the 2000s about making a movie about the period of the Second World War. The photograph gave him a way to situate the project. Further research led him to other untold stories of war.
London was cosmopolitan but racist, given that people from all over England’s colonies had started to populate the city. While the Allied powers were fighting for equality, casual prejudice was commonplace. Women played an important role in the war effort, first when the men were away and then when they came back shell-shocked. Unscrupulous people took advantage of a city in disarray.
Hollywood’s treatment of the Second World War often focuses on the brave bands of men on the fronts. Blitz does a solid job of showing us other sides of the story, its narrative fractured – just as war renders places and lives into shattered pieces. As always, Ronan is luminous. She plays Rita with just the right measures of warmth and gritted perseverance of a mother with a mission. She has to sing in a scene, and her voice soars movingly. Other cast members round out an ensemble performance in a wartime drama, hitting all the right notes.
However, it’s Heffernan who steals the show in his debut role. The camera lingers on him, and he holds your attention. You cannot help but clutch your hands, as he moves from one predicament to another. You watch his wide-eyed innocence getting shattered, even as little moments of hope keep him going. There’s determination in his steps to keep away from the authorities who will put him back on a train, but also the relief when an adult steps up to help.
In some ways, Blitz is both of its time and timeless. For those who remember, it might remind them of Children Film Foundation films. There’s also a Dickensian quality to this solidly crafted period film. It’s staid in tone and dialogue, with the imagery doing more of the heavy lifting – especially given that it’s filmed on location and sets, not a whit of CGI in sight. Swap out the accents and costumes, however, and Blitz could well be a documentation of tragic stories currently unfolding across the globe. A story of a family ripped apart by war, striving to survive the wreckage on a wish and a prayer.
Blitz opens in theatres Nov. 8 before premiering on Apple TV+ on November 22.
In the interest of consistency across all critics’ reviews, The Globe has eliminated its star-rating system in film and theatre to align with coverage of music, books, visual arts and dance. Instead, works of excellence will be noted with a critic’s pick designation across all coverage. (Television reviews, typically based on an incomplete season, are exempt.)
