Just saw Steve McQueen's Blitz and it's kind of astonishing: Part classical WWII perseverance melodrama, part kids' Dickensian picaresque escapade, and part fierce upending of the cliches of both of those genres. You might not love it, but it's a wholly idiosyncratic film that only he could've made. - ThreadSky

markharris.bsky.social • 207 days ago

Just saw Steve McQueen's Blitz and it's kind of astonishing: Part classical WWII perseverance melodrama, part kids' Dickensian picaresque escapade, and part fierce upending of the cliches of both of those genres. You might not love it, but it's a wholly idiosyncratic film that only he could've made.

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nicklambrianou.bsky.social•207 days ago

I just posted an IMBD review to try and counter the 5* comments that just don’t get it. McQueen is really flirting with Wizard of Oz/Fantastic Journey sensibilities and I loved the full on Oliver Twist, erm, twist. Also, Paul bleedin’ Weller!

jhughesviews.bsky.social•207 days ago

Hmm I didn’t like it. I found it formulaic & flat. Very rat tat a tat, as in now we are going to introduce character after character whose only purpose is to represent entire communities. IMO it missed the richness and complexities of Small Axe, which would have been a better model for this script.

johnjflynn.bsky.social•207 days ago

Paul Weller just blew my mind. And I want the footnotes: I dug into that nightclub scene (the Cafe de Paris) and that bandleader (Ken 'Snakehips' Johnson)...all of that was true right down to the looters. And shelter leader MIckey Davis? Fantastic.

jordaneckerling.bsky.social•207 days ago

I too looked up the Cafe incident and was surprised at it's accuracy. I had never heard of this horrific event, and the film gets the setting and events 100% correct. Stunning.

johnjflynn.bsky.social•206 days ago

And he didn't dramatize this, but the fact that it was a million-to-one shot that went right down a ventilator shaft is crazy.

marktierney.com•207 days ago

Boy, you're really selling it to me. /s

williambibbiani.bsky.social•207 days ago

I'm surprised it hasn't been making more waves. It's staggering how much it packs into one film, steeped in actual history, cinema history, literary history, all of them hauntingly revisited and powerfully reframed.

mikeshutt.bsky.social•207 days ago

The response to it has been utterly baffling to me. Easily one of my favorites of the year.

williambibbiani.bsky.social•207 days ago

Same, yeah. I saw a lot of critics write it off as McQueen going mainstream and in response to that I was so "I can't even" that I couldn't even "I can't even."

lkardish.bsky.social•206 days ago

Completely agree. Being a McQueen enthusiast since my MoMA days I saw an early screening and was "blitzed". I am gobsmacked so many critics think this subversive work of art, beautiful and astonishing, is a conventional film. It is not.

thirdmanmovies.bsky.social•207 days ago

I liked how it felt more of a piece with his first three films, and their arc of the reasons we suffer.

Hunger: Suffering for a cause

Shame: Suffering from addiction

12 Years a Slave: Suffering from cruelty

Blitz: Suffering as collateral damage

nicklambrianou.bsky.social•207 days ago

nice take

emlbet.bsky.social•207 days ago

I enjoyed it on the basis that I learned more about some specific realities of the Blitz. Seen plenty films that feature the Blitz but not focused on the Blitz. As a whole, I didn’t think it was overly great, maybe a little short ultimately, but quite fascinating for sure.

ddr225.bsky.social•207 days ago

Loved it! The production was amazing. That young man was astonishing

ocactus.bsky.social•206 days ago

I loved Blitz and was astonished at how beautifully shot it was. Greatly disappointed, though, that I had no chance to see it in a theater.

danielmontgomery.bsky.social•207 days ago

I thought it was okay. I didn't get nearly as much out of it. For me, the Dickensian stuff clashed uncomfortably with the melodrama. The tone just felt ... off for me. But I liked how it subverted the usually white complexion of WWII movies. And it's impeccably crafted with a few thrilling sequences

danielmontgomery.bsky.social•207 days ago

I'd compare it to "War Horse." A great director taking a big swing and just not totally connecting with me. It seems like a weird anomaly in his filmography thus far.

bevdower.bsky.social•207 days ago

Agree. Saw it last night, it was amazing.

rpriory.bsky.social•207 days ago

Really boring as well

jenelleriley.bsky.social•206 days ago

I love this film and am confused that the main criticism I hear is “Anyone could have made this movie.” Clearly no one did!

markharris.bsky.social•206 days ago

"I've seen it before." You have? In what movie?

jenelleriley.bsky.social•206 days ago

And this implication that somehow it’s beneath Steve McQueen to make an heartfelt, old-fashioned WWII epic. People slept on WIDOWS too.

grownasswoman.bsky.social•207 days ago

Wow, were we watching the same movie? I was seriously disappointed. If felt bland and was a rehashing of the blitz that we’ve been seeing for the last 70 years or so. I will concede that Elliott Heffernan was brilliant as George.

theresita.bsky.social•207 days ago

Saw it Saturday night and loved it. The talented Saoirse Ronan was brilliant as always.

smurfburger.bsky.social•207 days ago

Respectfully disagree. It felt like an OK Netflix series to me. It made me appreciate Dunkirk although I already appreciated Dunkirk. It felt like the plot rambled too much and was unfocused.

wisdombox.bsky.social•207 days ago

It’s beautifully shot and that little boy is perfect.

rwhedges.bsky.social•207 days ago

I retrieved the scrap metal they blew up in that film, so I want to see it at least to see the scrap metal blow up

paulchandler.bsky.social•207 days ago

Did you not think the "we're all in this together as equals" speech in the shelter was terrible? And Graham and Burke caricatures? Incredibly predictable as well. Couldn't wait for it to end.

stephenfyfe.bsky.social•206 days ago

I had no idea about this film until I saw this Tweet. It looks incredible.

niledunn.bsky.social•207 days ago

I thought it was fantastic. Elliot Heffernan gave one of the most beautiful child actor performances I’ve seen in years.

markschweitzer.bsky.social•207 days ago

Have not seen it yet - but want to. Initial impressions made me think of Boorman's "Hope and Glory."

thegayaesthetic.bsky.social•201 days ago

And a sly reference to the inherent racism still existing in England at the time. I liked this film.

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