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Glorious 39
In the two years preceding the outbreak of
World War II the appeasement movement flourished in England, if not
continental Europe itself. So desperate were the British to avoid war
they actively negotiated on Hitler’s behalf over the matter of
Czechoslovakia, and essentially turned a blind eye to the dictator’s
incorporation of Austria into the Reich.
Tempers ran high on both sides, with
Hitler’s opponents arguing the only method that would truly counter his
incessant territorial demands was the application of force, an approach
that was eventually taken, obviously, following the German invasion of
Poland in September 1939.
Glorious 39 is set in the
deceptively idyllic English summer of that world-changing year. Budding
actress Anne (Romola Garai) is the daughter of a prominent English MP
(the venerable Bill Nighy, Love Actually). When she stumbles
across a cache of government files indicating a sinister plot to further
appease the Nazis, Anne, her family and her acquaintances are all drawn
into a dark world full of deadly secrets, and it quickly becomes
apparent that someone considers the files in question to be worth
killing for.
Though the storyline is fictional,
writer/director Stephen Poliakoff proves adept at imbuing the work with
plenty of pathos, and the ensemble case which includes David Tennant (Dr
Who), Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park) and Academy Award winner
Julie Christie put in uniquely excellent performances. The end result
is an artfully executed speculative period thriller, and a clever
reimagining of both the months leading up to World War II and the
turmoil inherent in the homeland politics of the day.
Audio & Video
The scenery and settings are stunning, as
is Danny Cohen’s cinematography. The anamorphically enhanced 16:9
transfer is quite lovely, with some intentionally drab shots of present
day London contrasting brilliantly with the vibrancy of 1939’s
‘glorious’ summer. The English 5.1 surround audio is equally
impressive.
Special Features
There’s a fairly run of the mill audio
commentary with Poliakoff and actress Romola Garai, and a hugely
aggrandizing featurette entitled ‘On the Edge of War: Uncovering
Glorious 39,’ in which Poliakoff is made out to be some sort of
cross between David Lynch and Orson Welles. A few interesting BTS
tidbits, but mostly this consists of cast members gushing about what a
genius the little-known auteur is. |
