Eighty-nine-year-old Bernie Jordan and his wife Rene are living in a retirement home in Hove, England, after her health deteriorated and she is dependent on life-saving medications. Bernie he participated in the Second World War in his youth in the ranks of Her Majesty’s Army and would now like to attend the seventieth anniversary of D-Day, but discovers that the places for the organized tours are sold out. Despite his age, the protagonist is not discouraged and decides to set off “alone” to reach his intended destination.
On the other hand, the Italian title Escape to Normandy leaves no room for misunderstandings and ours, armed with courage, recklessness and his inseparable stick, entrusts his beloved wife to the care of the doctors and in great secrecy sets off towards France. On board the ferry that will take him from Dover to his desired destination he has the opportunity to meet Arthur, a peer of his age, an RAF veteran with whom he becomes friends and with whom he will continue the rest of the journey.
Escape to Normandy: so as not to forget
An incredible true story that is told in Escape to Normandy which saw this as the absolute protagonist elderly ex-fighter in 2014, so much so that his case was widely covered by British public opinion to the point that it entered homes throughout the United Kingdom, and beyond. Some viewers may have a sense of déjà-vu since it was on Sky only a few weeks ago a film inspired by the same story was broadcast: we are talking about The Last Rifleman – Return to Normandy (2013), actually released in Anglo-Saxon territory a few weeks later.
So it is in our country The latecomer escapes to Normandynow arrived in the room to tell us about this age-old adventure for the whole family, which boasts an approach more dramatic and nostalgic compared to the homologous production just mentioned. Production which in the main role featured a Pierce Brosnan aged by make-up and wig and which on this occasion can instead count on an actually ninety-year-old actor, that is Sir Michael Caine, in his last performance before the announced withdrawal. The film marks not only his final swansong, but also that of his colleague Glenda Jacksonwho didn’t even have time to see the finished film since passed away in June last year.
Between past and present
It is precisely the two extraordinary performers, thoroughbred horses, who are the main attractions of an otherwise simple and enjoyable filmdevoid of excessive ambitions other than that of recounting with tact and sensitivity an obstinacy with a universal flavor, with the motivations that pushed Jordan to his very personal mission tinged with anti-war notes, with a couple of poignant passages that resonate like a warning against all warscontemporary and future.
Escape to Normandy decides to weave that further melancholic aura with that handful of flashbacks that bring back the two elderly spouses back in time, to the days in which they met and the subsequent period he spent on the battlefield, with the various related dramas attributable to the tragedy of the conflict which required the sacrifice of so many men and boys. The meeting between the protagonist and a group of German peersalso in Normandy to privately remember their fallen comrades, in the name of a sort of belated brotherhood aimed at erasing that past of contrasts and kindling hope for a future of peace among peoplestoday increasingly at risk.
At times the hour and a half of viewing appears partially didactic and directed by Oliver ParkerhisOthello (1996) with Kenneth Branagh but also Johnny English Reborn (2011) with Rowan Atkinson, deliberately chooses to do not lean either on the overly dramatic side or on the light soulbut ending up being more impersonal than expected.
For other titles recently released in theaters, check out our column on cinema releases in June 2024.
