In the summer of 2014, a World War II veteran sneaks out of his care home to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
Michael Caine
Bernard Jordan
Glenda Jackson
Irene Jordan
John Standing
Arthur
Will Fletcher
Young Bernard
Laura Marcus
Young Irene
Victor Oshin
Scott
Danielle Vitalis
Adele
Joe Bone
Tim
Donald Sage Mackay
Nathan
Carlyss Peer
Vicky
Ian Conningham
LCT Commander Parker
Wolf Kahler
Heinrich
Kiera Bell
Young Tour Guide
Elliot Norman
Douglas Bennet
Alex Skarbek
Maurice (Patron)
Valerie Sarruf
Little Old French Lady
Graeme Dalling
Cyclist
Simon Darwen
Male TV Announcer
Imman Zaffrani
Sandy
Bhawna Bhawshar
Reporter
Huw Edwards
Self (Archive Footage)
Barack Obama
Self (Archive Footage)
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Self (Archive Footage)
Geoffrey Lumb
Doctor Saunders
Myles Olofin
Cyclist
Ann Queensberry
Edith
Jackie Clune
Judith Cook
Brennan Reece
Martin Roberts
Elkie Kristine Jeffery
A Candy Girl
Deborah Rose Watt
A Candy Girl
Freyja Jane Barter
A Candy Girl
Paul Bigley
Band Leader
Isabella Domville
Susan Everard
Dan Fredenburgh
Police Sergeant
Stephen Leask
Police Officer Robert
Bhawna Bhawsar
Reporter
Hope Jones
Factory Girl
Ross Carter
Normandy Tourist (uncredited)
Stuart Cooke
Journalist (uncredited)
David Evestaff
Interviewer (uncredited)
Jeanette Maskell
Ferry Passenger (uncredited)
Mark Anthony O'Neill
Dancer (uncredited)
Paul Olding
Gendarme (uncredited)
Peter Theobalds
Mouthy Paparazzi (uncredited)
Director
Oliver Parker
Writer
William Ivory
October 8, 2023
7
This is one of those contemporary, really quite touching, dramas that we won't be able to make for too much longer. It centres around an elderly couple, who have been together for seventy years, and live a semi-independent life in a care home. During a routine chat with their nurses, "Rene" (Glenda Jackson) discovers that her husband "Bernie" (Sir Michael Caine) had wanted to go to the impending celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings, but that all the tickets had gone. She makes it pretty clear that if he wants to go, well then he ought to just go! Armed with a only a carrier bag and a few quid, he takes a ferry and heads off on a trip that is going to induce some fairly horrific memories of events in 1945 - which we sparingly see in flashback - but is also going to provide him with a degree of fulfilment and closure on issues that have dogged him ever since. Snag? Well he didn't actually tell anyone he was going, so the home are worried, the police are looking and the media soon get hold of his tale of determination and a degree of celebrity beckons. It's a very characterful story, this, with a gentle chemistry between Jackson and Caine, and also between Caine and his newfound travelling companion "Arthur" (a proud performance from John Standing) as they both have to face their demons past and present. There's plenty of humour - a decent soupçon of sarcasm; along with a spirit of optimism and reconciliation that works well, without drifting into cheesy sentiment, for ninety minutes. It reminded me of the equally poignant BBC drama "A Foreign Field" (1993) and is a good, at times thought-provoking watch.