Hope and Glory (DVD, 2001)

Several movies have been made about WWII from the American viewpoint--"Since You Went Away" and "Swing Shift" to name two--but this 1988 movie tells us about what it was like to live in England during this horrific war.

For the United States, we entered the war on December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. But for England, as seen in this movie, the country joined the war on September 3, 1939, when Hitler refused to withdraw from Poland.

We see and hear tapes of Winston Churchill, King George, and Nigel Chamberlain during the movie. But mostly this movie is about the Rowan family and especially the only son--9 year old Bill played by Sebastian Rice Edwards. Bill's parents--Clive and Grace (Sarah Miles, the only recognizable star in the movie)--are in their thirties. So Clive joins up to serve his country as he had done twenty years earlier in WWI. Grace is left to take care of the three children--Dawn, 15, Bill, 9, and Sue, 5. Grace almost sends the two youngest children to stay with her sister in Australia but backs out at the last minute as the train almost departs with them.

Dawn, the oldest child, has a minor subplot in the movie. She is into dating and sneaking around with a Canadian soldier, Private Bruce Carey. Bill draws a line on the back of her legs to imitate hosiery, and we see her dancing the jitterbug with Bruce with her skirts flying. We also see them several times having sex. The other two children see them and talk about it.

But Billy's story is the main one. He collects shrapnel, is introduced into what we would call a young gang, and is taught a googlie in cricket by his father before he leaves. He abhors girls and is turned off by emotional movies as any boy his age would be. When the family's house burns down, Billy and his family go to live with his lecherous grandfather--Da Da--and Billy gets most of his manhood training from him including how to row a boat, how to treat women, and more cricket training.

To the backdrop of "In the Mood," "Where or When" and other 1940s songs, we see the total destruction that London went through during the nightly air raids. Once, there is an explosion that breaks the living room window glass right into their faces as they scurry to get to the shelter. Then the next day, we see rubble everywhere and kids picking up pieces of their past and the shrapnel that caused it.

This movie had 5 Academy Award nominations, but won none. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (John Boorman), Best Screenplay written for the screen, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography.

This movie is very much worth watching but is not for children. There is plenty of sex talk and views of it, although nothing lurid. It is a story of an English family during wartime--having good times and frightening ones too.

It came quickly. I was glad to receive this video, a classic. The item was recieved with ease and arrived safely. Thank you.

Deception, first to last. Supposedly the story of growing up in England during the Battle of Britain, there is no connection between the story itself and any historical events other than as a backdrop. There is no human drama here, only sensuality and childish pranks pretending to be a story of overcoming adversity. Don't watch this film with your children, don't allow them to watch it, and don't think you will get some insight into the experience of the individual during the trauma of bombing raids by a foreign enemy. Avoid this bomb.