June
22
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QUEEN AND COUNTRY (15)
QUEEN AND COUNTRY (15)
Run time: 115 minutes
Director: John Boorman
Cast: Callum Turner, Caleb Landry Jones, Tasmin Egerton, Vanessa Kirby, David Thewlis, Richard E. Grant, Pat Shortt, Sinéad Cusack, David Hayman
Synopsis: Renowned British filmmaker John Boorman returns to the story and characters of one of his greatest successes, the multiple Oscar-nominated Hope and Glory. Picking up in 1952, and again light-heartedly based on Boorman’s own life experiences, the film follows the now grown-up Bill Rohan (Callum Turner) as he joins the army, chases girls and battles his authoritarian superiors (played with relish by David Thewlis and Richard E Grant).
http://queenandcountrythefilm.com/
Available On Demand on the GFT Player from 12 June.glasgowfilm.org/player
In Hope and Glory (15) John Boorman’s semi-autobiographical, charming and witty tale of childhood in wartime from the perspective of nine-year old Bill Rohan, World War II became an eye-opening adventure, highlighted by the momentous occasion when Hitler blew up his school.
Queen and Country picks up the story almost a decade later as Bill Rohan (Boorman’s alter-ego played by Callum Turner) begins National Service training in Aldershot in the early 1950s during the Korean War. He is joined by best pal Percy (Caleb Landry Jones) and they engage in a perpetual battle of wits with the punctilious Sergeant Major Bradley (David Thewlis) and with the aptly named CO Major Cross (Richard E. Grant).
This beautifully shot film, with cinematography by Seamus Deasy and an evocative music score from Stephen McKeon, has a touching and authentic feel of what the horrors of war are really like and the huge costs paid by ordinary people. We care about Bill’s journey through army training, from his first attempts at romance to his tentative start as a filmmaker
Images courtesy of BBC Films
