A semi-autobiographical project by John Boorman about a nine year old boy called Bill as he grows up in London during the blitz of World War 2. For a young boy, this time in history was ...
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In this sequel to Hope and Glory (1987), Bill Rohan has grown up and is drafted into the army, where he and his eccentric best mate, Percy, battle their snooty superiors on the base and look for love in town.
Director:
John Boorman
Stars:
Callum Turner,
Caleb Landry Jones,
Pat Shortt
After the son of engineer Bill Markham is abducted by an aboriginal tribe on the edge of the rain forest, the engineer spends the next 10 years searching for him.
The real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.
Director:
John Boorman
Stars:
Brendan Gleeson,
Adrian Dunbar,
Sean McGinley
Laura is trying to pick up the pieces of her life after the murder of her husband and son, and goes on vacation with her sister to Burma. After losing her passport at a political rally, she... See full summary »
Director:
John Boorman
Stars:
Patricia Arquette,
U Aung Ko,
Frances McDormand
Prince Leo, last in the line of rulers of a long-deposed monarchy on continental Europe and jaded with the frenetic search for kicks with the European jet-set, returns to his father's ... See full summary »
Stewart McBain (Coleman) is a real-estate mogul who spends his living blowing up old buildings to make room to erect new buildings. All goes as planned for a new subdivision, until a group ... See full summary »
Director:
John Boorman
Stars:
Dabney Coleman,
Uma Thurman,
Joanna Cassidy
A semi-autobiographical project by John Boorman about a nine year old boy called Bill as he grows up in London during the blitz of World War 2. For a young boy, this time in history was more of an adventure, a total upheaval of order, restrictions and discipline. The liberating effect of the war on the women left behind. And the joy when Hitler blows up your school.Written by
Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
This is the second World War II movie made by director John Boorman. The first had been Hell in the Pacific (1968), nineteen years earlier. He would later make the war-related film, Beyond Rangoon (1995). See more »
Goofs
The headmaster implores "God save us from the Messershmitts and the Fokkers" in the school assembly prayers. The Luftwaffe didn't have an operational Fokke-Wulfe combat aircraft during 1940, apart from a limited number of Condors that were used to attack shipping in the Atlantic.
The Fw190 was introduced in 1941, as the be109 was being phased out.
Along with the be109, the Junkers 87 Stuka (dive bomber) was the most notorious Nazi aircraft of the Batttle of Britain period.
Medium bomber manufacturers of the aircraft used to bomb London were Junkers Dornier and Heinkel. See more »
Quotes
Roger:
[upon seeing his school blown up by a German rocket earlier in the morning of the first day of the new school year]
Thank you, Adolf!
See more »
I've been watching 'Hope and Glory' for almost 20 years now, since its release in 1987 and it is still a total pleasure to view. John Boorman has re-created his memories of experiences during the Blitz and produced what could have been a very cynical, black comedy. But instead of dwelling on the death and destruction he has created a delightful pastiche, almost like a fairy tale, viewed through the eyes of a boy, Bill (Boorman himself), as he adapts and revels in the collapse of all the old and comfortable patterns of his life.
I am no fan of child actors, of the Shirley Temple/Freddie Bartholomew type, but these young British actors are wonderful. Bill is played by Sebastian Rice-Davies, a kid who seems to be possessed by the humor and life experience of a 35 year old. His younger sister, Geraldine Muir, steals her scenes with her cherubic face and rapier tongue. Her commentary on sex is hilarious.
The cast is uniformly excellent, though often over-shadowed by their young colleagues. Ian Bannen once again shines as their grumpy grampa, full of vinegar and oaths. His character is revealed to the fullest extent as he shakes his fist at the power lines encroaching on his idyllic house on the river Thames, hissing out "I curse you, volt, watt and amp!" This is indicative what all has been lost prior even to the bombs falling; the advancement of what is popularly thought to be Progress.
'Hope and Glory' is a salute to a more civilized society that was dealt a death blow during The Great War (WWI) and would be buried forever after WW2, Hitler's bombs just sped up the process of the dissolution of civility and decency.
But there is hope inherent in this film. Humor survives and the links with the past are secure, as embodied in the relationship between Bill and his grandfather, they connect and that connection cannot be broken, leaving me with the thought that perhaps we can return to better days, before MTV, Jerry Springer, Enron, Bill Clinton and a government educational system that demands our conformity to some sort of ephemeral "norm".
'Hope and Glory' is endlessly thought-provoking at the same time making one laugh at the follies of human-beings.
29 of 38 people found this review helpful.
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I've been watching 'Hope and Glory' for almost 20 years now, since its release in 1987 and it is still a total pleasure to view. John Boorman has re-created his memories of experiences during the Blitz and produced what could have been a very cynical, black comedy. But instead of dwelling on the death and destruction he has created a delightful pastiche, almost like a fairy tale, viewed through the eyes of a boy, Bill (Boorman himself), as he adapts and revels in the collapse of all the old and comfortable patterns of his life.
I am no fan of child actors, of the Shirley Temple/Freddie Bartholomew type, but these young British actors are wonderful. Bill is played by Sebastian Rice-Davies, a kid who seems to be possessed by the humor and life experience of a 35 year old. His younger sister, Geraldine Muir, steals her scenes with her cherubic face and rapier tongue. Her commentary on sex is hilarious.
The cast is uniformly excellent, though often over-shadowed by their young colleagues. Ian Bannen once again shines as their grumpy grampa, full of vinegar and oaths. His character is revealed to the fullest extent as he shakes his fist at the power lines encroaching on his idyllic house on the river Thames, hissing out "I curse you, volt, watt and amp!" This is indicative what all has been lost prior even to the bombs falling; the advancement of what is popularly thought to be Progress.
'Hope and Glory' is a salute to a more civilized society that was dealt a death blow during The Great War (WWI) and would be buried forever after WW2, Hitler's bombs just sped up the process of the dissolution of civility and decency.
But there is hope inherent in this film. Humor survives and the links with the past are secure, as embodied in the relationship between Bill and his grandfather, they connect and that connection cannot be broken, leaving me with the thought that perhaps we can return to better days, before MTV, Jerry Springer, Enron, Bill Clinton and a government educational system that demands our conformity to some sort of ephemeral "norm".
'Hope and Glory' is endlessly thought-provoking at the same time making one laugh at the follies of human-beings.