John Boorman made a splash in the late ’60s and early ’70s with visceral films like Point Blank and Deliverance. In the ’80s he made the autobiographical Hope & Glory and nearly 30 years later he has made a sequel called Queen& Country which is about his own time when he completed basis training to leave to fight in the Korean war in early ’50s with the British army. During this time he even wrote an autobiography Adventures of a Suburban Boy.
Boorman’s Roman à clef Bill Rohan (Callum Turner) is now 19 years old and World War 2 has been finished and the year is 1952. Bill and his friend Percy (Caleb Landry Jones) have been drafted into army and they both are antagonistic towards their superior officers and like any strapping young lads they are both looking for love. Bill falls deeply in love with the upper class Ophelia (Tamsin Egerton) but things get complicated like any first love. The young men are also facing being sent to their possible deaths in the Korean War.
It’s a nostalgic look but at the same time has a underlining darkness that really comes into fruition during the last 20 minutes. It’s still a relatively light weight film and it’s certainly the work of an old man looking back overly fondly at his younger self. The performances from the young cast are great with some supporting roles from British heavy weights like David Thewlis and Richard E. Grant which give the proceedings some extra class.
The film is obsessed with film as well, there is a pivotal scene where Bill and Ophelia go and see Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Rashômon and discuss it afterwards. Bill and his friends are constantly referencing films like Sunset Blvd., Strangers on a Train and Casablanca throughout the narrative. The film’s ending which again deals with film leaves the viewer wanting more and leaves it open-ended enough that Boorman could make the 3rd film in his cinematic autobiography. It keeps the viewer wanting just enough more that I can only hope a 3rd film can be made but Boorman is well into his 80s now so if this is his last one it’s not a bad end point to an interesting if not always satisfying career.
★★★1/2
Ian Schultz
Drama | UK, 2015 | 15 | Curzon Artificial Eye | 24th August 2015 (UK) |Dir.John Boorman |Callum Turner, Richard E Grant, David Thewlis, Caleb Landry Jones, Tamsin Egerton |Buy:Queen & Country DVD
Share this:
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.