The cinema where I saw this on its opening night had many empty seats, and those that were filled were mostly occupied by people who, like me, appeared 70 or over. For this age group, the pairing of Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson is magical - we remember them as beautiful people in the 1970s, he portraying casually charming rogues, and she as a prickly but strong and beautiful woman. As we've grown older, so have they, and they portray the fragility and limitations of old age unflinchingly. The wrinkles and wobbles are not disguised, and the contrast between the characters now and the scenes when they were young (played by Will Fletcher and Laura Marcus) is striking.
There is a scene where Jackson's character, Rene, who has been having "funny turns" and angina, discusses with her carer her short life expectancy - stressing the difference between how you treat life when you are young and how it feels when you are near the end. This has added poignancy if you know that Jackson died shortly after the film was completed.
The big risk for this film is that it will slide into sentimentality. The plot, based on a true story, is simple enough. 89-year-old Bernard decides to go to France for the 70th anniversary D-day celebrations, leaving Rene alone in the flat they share in a care home by the seaside. He didn't get tickets to join an official group, but decides to set off alone, without telling the staff at the home, leading to some concern at his disappearance. He makes it to Dover, boards a ferry, is helped by another man who is part of a group, and they make a sobering visit to a cemetery where both have a grave to visit. When Bernard's adventure is discovered, he becomes a brief media sensation. This modest tale is supplemented by flashbacks that save the film from mawkishness. They show, on the one hand, the strength of the early relationship between Rene and Bernard, forged in the uncertainty of war, and the demons that Bernard still struggles with from his experience at the D-day landing. Although this could have been a celebration of British heroism in war, it is much more an examination of how the horrors of war leave a mark on young men who were on the battlefield. This comes across most clearly when a young soldier who is helping at the event tells Bernard how much he admires him, and Bernard quietly tells him to stop that, and to get help for himself - recognising that the soldier is still affected by his own traumas.
Finally, the relationship between Rene and Bernard, married for 50 years but still devoted to one another, is heartwarming, and they do make it believable. Jackson and Caine are simply wonderful as old people who know how to live life to the full, despite the depradations of age.
There is a scene where Jackson's character, Rene, who has been having "funny turns" and angina, discusses with her carer her short life expectancy - stressing the difference between how you treat life when you are young and how it feels when you are near the end. This has added poignancy if you know that Jackson died shortly after the film was completed.
The big risk for this film is that it will slide into sentimentality. The plot, based on a true story, is simple enough. 89-year-old Bernard decides to go to France for the 70th anniversary D-day celebrations, leaving Rene alone in the flat they share in a care home by the seaside. He didn't get tickets to join an official group, but decides to set off alone, without telling the staff at the home, leading to some concern at his disappearance. He makes it to Dover, boards a ferry, is helped by another man who is part of a group, and they make a sobering visit to a cemetery where both have a grave to visit. When Bernard's adventure is discovered, he becomes a brief media sensation. This modest tale is supplemented by flashbacks that save the film from mawkishness. They show, on the one hand, the strength of the early relationship between Rene and Bernard, forged in the uncertainty of war, and the demons that Bernard still struggles with from his experience at the D-day landing. Although this could have been a celebration of British heroism in war, it is much more an examination of how the horrors of war leave a mark on young men who were on the battlefield. This comes across most clearly when a young soldier who is helping at the event tells Bernard how much he admires him, and Bernard quietly tells him to stop that, and to get help for himself - recognising that the soldier is still affected by his own traumas.
Finally, the relationship between Rene and Bernard, married for 50 years but still devoted to one another, is heartwarming, and they do make it believable. Jackson and Caine are simply wonderful as old people who know how to live life to the full, despite the depradations of age.