Glorious 39 (2009)
Country: GB
Technical: col/2.35:1 129m
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Cast: Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Julie Christie, Jenny Agutter, Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee, Corin Redgrave, Charlie Cox, David Tennant
Synopsis:
A boy retraces his family history to discover what became of his mother, who in 1939 discovered a plot by members loyal to the Prime Minister to avoid war with Germany at all costs... including murdering their opponents.
Review:
This preposterous film, which resembles Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans in its abject silliness, would never have come near funding if it had not been penned by such an established playwright. The idea that a well-known actress could just disappear without trace in her nightdress, apart from cheating the viewer of a satisfactory denouement, is as unlikely as the murderous premise and familial disorder. The director seems to be attempting something akin to that Ishiguro success, The Remains of the Day, which similarly positioned a political plot inside generic 'upstairs downstairs' clothing. Instead he chooses Hitchcock at his lightest (39 Steps, Young and Innocent, The Man Who Knew Too Much) to shore up a revisionist piece of history as rewritten by the losing side, like setting a conspiracy thriller inside the Titanic.
Country: GB
Technical: col/2.35:1 129m
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Cast: Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Julie Christie, Jenny Agutter, Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee, Corin Redgrave, Charlie Cox, David Tennant
Synopsis:
A boy retraces his family history to discover what became of his mother, who in 1939 discovered a plot by members loyal to the Prime Minister to avoid war with Germany at all costs... including murdering their opponents.
Review:
This preposterous film, which resembles Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans in its abject silliness, would never have come near funding if it had not been penned by such an established playwright. The idea that a well-known actress could just disappear without trace in her nightdress, apart from cheating the viewer of a satisfactory denouement, is as unlikely as the murderous premise and familial disorder. The director seems to be attempting something akin to that Ishiguro success, The Remains of the Day, which similarly positioned a political plot inside generic 'upstairs downstairs' clothing. Instead he chooses Hitchcock at his lightest (39 Steps, Young and Innocent, The Man Who Knew Too Much) to shore up a revisionist piece of history as rewritten by the losing side, like setting a conspiracy thriller inside the Titanic.
Country: GB
Technical: col/2.35:1 129m
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Cast: Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Julie Christie, Jenny Agutter, Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee, Corin Redgrave, Charlie Cox, David Tennant
Synopsis:
A boy retraces his family history to discover what became of his mother, who in 1939 discovered a plot by members loyal to the Prime Minister to avoid war with Germany at all costs... including murdering their opponents.
Review:
This preposterous film, which resembles Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans in its abject silliness, would never have come near funding if it had not been penned by such an established playwright. The idea that a well-known actress could just disappear without trace in her nightdress, apart from cheating the viewer of a satisfactory denouement, is as unlikely as the murderous premise and familial disorder. The director seems to be attempting something akin to that Ishiguro success, The Remains of the Day, which similarly positioned a political plot inside generic 'upstairs downstairs' clothing. Instead he chooses Hitchcock at his lightest (39 Steps, Young and Innocent, The Man Who Knew Too Much) to shore up a revisionist piece of history as rewritten by the losing side, like setting a conspiracy thriller inside the Titanic.