Hope and Glory was a 1987 British film, written, produced and directed by John Boorman; a semi-autobiographical account of his experiences growing up in London during World War II.

It was a tale told with exceptional attention to detail; while being infused with plenty of charm and humour.

It was a film critically acclaimed and embraced by audiences, and now, almost three decades later, the 82-year-old-director continues the narrative, his alter-ego now 18 years old, a young man facing his future as the nation deals with the aftermath of the war.

As Boorman explains in the film’s production notes: “Hope and Glory was based on my childhood memories of the London Blitz and the contrast-ing idyllic days spent on the River Thames that my mother fled to when our house was destroyed.

Queen and Country is set nine years on, in 1952, when I was eighteen and had to serve – as did every 18 year-old – two years conscription in the military. Many of the characters in the story are inspired by people I met at that time and my own family.”

Retains a sense of whimsy while capturing the mood prevalent in the era

In the film, once he joins the army, the realities of life hit Bill (played by Callum Turner) hard; as he and his new friend Percy (Caleb Landry Jones) struggle to survive the harshness of military training under the boot of their instructor Major Bradley (David Thewlis).

Boorman is one of Britain’s most acclaimed directors, and his trademark visual flair and attention to narrative are present in Queen and Country. He retains the sense of whimsy and humour that characterised Hope and Glory, while perfectly capturing the mood prevalent the era.

“England suffered a long hangover from the war in the early 50s,” he says. “Food rationing was still in force. It was a bleak place. We were coming to terms with the end of the empire. We, the young, rejected that past of class and privilege and yearned for a fairer more egalitarian country, and that drives the story.”

Like its predecessor, Queen and Country has found great favour among critics, Michael Sragow from Film Comment saying that:

“Boorman, now 82, has rarely directed more fearlessly. He displays masterly command and élan as he mixes languid and staccato rhythms with lush or lowering atmospheres.”

In Time Out, New York, David Ehrlich describes the film as “a moving portrait of a nation that couldn’t account for all it had lost in a war that it won.”

Queen and Country is an Eden Cinemas release.

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