ANOTHER MOTHER’S SON

TIMED for release on Mother’s Day weekend, director Christopher Menaul’s well-intentioned drama pays tribute to one unsung hero of the Second World War, who risked her life for a tortured stranger.

While friends turn on each other to curry favour with German invaders, the self-sacrificing matriarch remains stoic in the face of barbarity.

“If we’re not better than them, what are we fighting for?” she rages, eyes twinkling with defiance.

As scripted by Jenny Lecoat, great niece of the story’s valiant heroine, Another Mother’s Son is a solid portrait of one of the first recipients of Her Majesty’s British Hero of the Holocaust Awards, who found her voice on 1942 Jersey, the only home territory to fall under Nazi rule.

Jenny Seagrove delivers a measured performance as the maternal protector Louisa Gould, and singer Ronan Keating appears as her brother Harold.

Jersey has become a prison under the control of the Third Reich. British citizens not born on the island are despatched to Germany, while prisoners of war arrive by the boat load to build a hulking concrete wall to repel allied counter attacks.

One of Louisa’s sons has recently been killed in action and the grief-stricken mother tearfully welcomes escaped Russian POW Feodor (Julian Kostov) who seeks refuge under Louisa’s roof, treating him as a surrogate, christening her guest Bill.

She teaches him English in the hope he can avoid suspicion, but Louisa’s trusting nature could be the downfall of everyone she holds dear.

Another Mother’s Son has flecks of humour and tugs heartstrings. Every frame is sincere, but the film is light on tension and character development.

There is no doubting the real Louisa Gould’s selflessness and gallantry in a time of unimaginable bloodshed.

However, her remarkable story merits a broader and richer canvas than director Menaul musters here.