As with all British filmmakers, at one point or another they will make a film about the Second World War. This time around it is from Academy Award winner Steve McQueen who has put his focus on The Blitz, where Nazi Germany performed mass nighttime bombing in industrial centers in England, including London. With an immersive and epic topic and a talented cast and crew, you would expect Blitz to knock the Nazis out of the park. But sadly, Blitz does no such thing as it is a woefully undercooked mess.
Before I bog down the room, let me explain where Blitz goes right. There is no denying the prowess of the technical craft that went into Blitz. From beginning to end we are immersed into the chaotic world of the London Blitz. From the impeccable sound design to the dazzling cinematography, you feel the brutality of the Blitzkrieg with every single bomb. When the film just focused on our characters just trying to survive the brutal bombing was when the film was at its strongest. But sadly when the film shifted away from its survival horror, it completely collapsed.
The terms to best describe the narrative of Blitz would be unfocused and undercooked. In Blitz we follow George (Elliott Heffernan) traverses through London during the Blitz to get back to his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan) who sent him away to be evacuated for his safety. On paper, this is a straight forward story, but in execution it is a convoluted mess. The narrative is fractured into two parts, one following George and the other following Rita. Each of these narratives feel lost. It thematically knows what it wants to tell, but it doesn’t know how to tell it. So, it resorts to broad, one-noted storytelling to get the job done. Thus creating an underwritten and meandering story.
George’s story is definitely the weaker of the two despite having some of the best scenes in the film. We follow George as he tries to get back to his mother in London after he was evacuated. However, instead of the narrative focusing on the struggles of coming of age in a World War, it chooses to focus on racism in Britain. Racism is a topic that McQueen has never shied away from, but in Blitz he handles in the laziest way possible as he tells it to the audience rather than explore it. The film even features a scene feels akin to a Disney film with one character standing up an saying “Racism is bad”. Furthermore, George isn’t a compelling character. He is boiled down to an angry kid whose identity is shaped around his skin color and his mother. He is a static character who doesn’t go on any journey as his narrative is structured like a bunch of random side quest rather than facing the cruelty of humanity. It also doesn’t help that Elliott Heffernan is a weak lead. I understand that he is a kid and that this is his first project, but he is just an angry block of wood in Blitz.
Rita’s story on the other hand is the stronger narrative, primarily due to Saoirse Ronan carrying it on her back, but it feels equally as lost. We follow Rita working in the munition factory and volunteering in local shelters as she tries to find purpose after evacuating her son. Then when she catches the news of her son’s disappearance, she desperately searches London to find him. I personally found this to be the more interesting narrative as it highlighted women’s war efforts. But sadly it becomes lost as it doesn’t know what to do with Ronan’s character. She has no agency or life as she is boiled down to the love of her son. They introduce a potential love interest for her with Harris Dickinson’s character, but he ultimately adds to nothing as he disappears entirely from the narrative. Despite Ronan’s best efforts she couldn’t save this story.
In the end, Blitz ultimately feels like two different films. One focusing on the struggles of coming of age during the Second World War and the other highlighting women’s wartime efforts. If Blitz would have focused on one of these narratives, or transformed this film into a miniseries, it would have given the much needed space for the narrative to breath. Sadly, McQueen got tunneled vision as he got too ambitious for his own good. He knows how to create a haunting atmosphere, but didn’t know how to craft a compelling narrative.
My Rating: C
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