InternetMovieDataBase's Film Summary: 1939 is set between present-day London and the idyllic British countryside in the time before the beginning of the WW2. At a time of uncertainty and high tension, the story revolves around the formidable Keyes family, who are keen to uphold and preserve their very traditional way of life. The eldest sibling Anne is a budding young actress who is in love with Foreign Office official Lawrence, but her seemingly perfect life begins to dramatically unravel when she stumbles across secret recordings of the pro-appeasement movement. While trying to discover the origin of these recordings, dark secrets are revealed which lead to the deaths of some of her friends. As war breaks out Anne discovers the truth and flees to London to try to confirm her suspicions, but she is caught and imprisoned and only then does she finally begin to discover how badly she has been betrayed....
Disappointment, disappointment, disappointment.
It had so much promise but it failed to deliver...
A film about one family's involvement in the pro-appeasement lobby in the lead up to the Second World War is a unique topic rarely explored in films, but something that could have been given a long distance but which failed to explore its full range. Seeing how the upper classes were trying to achieve peace at all costs, something only touched on in films like Remains of the Day, and here this film does little to further the exploration of this theme...
Now all the underhand goings-on are uncovered by the eldest daughter (who isn't really their daughter?! No real solid reason given as to how she ended up in their family- just one of the many unanswered questions!!) Anne Keyes, played by the totally wonderful Romola Garai, is that daughter and she is captivating. A stella cast of Bill Nighy as Dad, David Tenant as friend of the family who died/murdered during the course of the pro-appeasement and Hugh Bonneville (also murdered) are also wonderful. So what is the problem?
Well, the plot for one. No ends are tied up. The many references to Winston Churchill by the anti-appeasement people in the film and the feeble attempts to try and contact him to tell him what has been going on never come to any fruition, although no reason is given as to why. The biggest plot hole is the end. After locking anne up for ages, they let her escape and escape she does until she returns as an old lady to confront her brothers and her prisoners, they thinking she is dead... No mention is made of what she did in all those years... Stephen Poliakoff the director and scriptwriter could have just honed this into a really spectacular and seminal film, but falls way short of the mark... such a shame because the cast were amazing and the theme ripe for the picking...
***
No comments:
Post a Comment