Queen And Country
Carry on, sergeants…
Back in 1987 veteran Brit director John Boorman gave us Hope And Glory, in which his nineyear-old alter ego, Bill Rohan, experienced all the excitement (at least, from a kid’s point of view) of WW2 and the Blitz. In this belated – and equally autobiographical – sequel it’s 1952 and Bill, now 18 (and played by Callum Turner), gets called up for National Service. After the obligatory delights of square-bashing and being screamed at by NCOs, Bill expects to be shipped off to fight in Korea. Instead, he and his chancer friend, Percy (Caleb Landry Jones), are promoted to sergeant and tasked with teaching recruits to touch-type. Boring, sure – but better than being shot at.
By way of alleviating the boredom, Bill and Percy enjoy winding up Sergeant-Major Bradley (David Thewlis), who knows the entire Army Regulations by heart and insists on enforcing them to the letter. Percy also concocts a scheme, with the help of artful dodger Private Redmond (Pat Shortt), to make off with the prized regimental clock. Both these pranks will backfire in different ways, but meanwhile the lads find romance, Percy with pretty nurse Sophie (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Bill with the enigmatic, neurotic Ophelia (Tamsin Egerton). Then Bill’s sexy older sister Dawn (Vanessa Kirby) returns from Canada, having got divorced.
All this, plus one character’s attempted suicide, another being court-martialled for subversion and in the background the imminent coronation, makes for a seriously overstuffed narrative. As such, Queen And Country often feels too episodic for its own good. Against this, though, the warmth of Boorman’s nostalgic vision, and his evocative sense of period, carry it through. As Bill and Percy, Turner and Jones get the callow tone right, but they’re outdone by the cast’s veterans: Shortt ( Calvary) as the devious Redmond, Richard E. Grant’s wearily sardonic CO and above all by Thewlis, ultimately moving as a man taking refuge from the anguish of post-combat stress in absurd pettiness. Philip Kemp THE VERDICT An appealing exercise in nostalgia, even if the episodic plot feels like outtakes from an army sitcom.
› Certificate 15 Director John Boorman Starring Callum Turner, Caleb Landry Jones, David Thewlis, Pat Shortt, Richard E .Grant Screenplay John Boorman Distributor Curzon Running time 115 mins