Their Finest
4 stars
Director: Lone Scherfig
Stars: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy
Duration: 117 mins
Class: 12
KRS Releasing Ltd
Their Finest is a typical example of the period film British cinema is so excellent at. A World War II drama with just the right touch of romance and humour, it celebrates the stiff-upper-lipped heroism not of British soldiers at war, but of those who remained behind, fighting the war in their own intrepid and valiant way.
Their Finest is also a celebration of cinema, highlighting as it does its ability to inspire and uplift – while accurately, oftentimes hilariously and always lovingly, it depicts the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of movie-making.
The story opens in 1940s London as the city withstands the bombing onslaught of the blitz. Looking to offer its people something uplifting, the Ministry of Defence commissions a propaganda movie that would and instil hope in the nation during this bleakest of times.
Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) an advertisement copywriter, is brought on board the filmmaking team (to write the women’s dialogue; or ‘slop’ as it was condescendingly referred to). Working alongside the more experienced and certainly more cynical writer Buckley (Sam Claflin), they identify a true story that they feel would provide the perfect subject matter to capture the patriotic fever of the nation – that of twin sisters who set out to sea in their father’s rickety old boat to rescue a number of brave, wounded soldiers in Dunkirk.
Projects a sombre mood,the real horrors of war never far away
Catrin comes into her own in this job, her extraordinary talent coming to shine as she navigates the internal wranglings of the job and external wreckage of war.
For all its delightful charms, laughs, romance and occasional ventures into twee-ness, Their Finest still projects a sombre mood, the real horrors of war never far away. The script by Gaby Chiappe, based on the novel Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans, effortlessly captures both comedy and pathos, with scenes of the devastation wrought on the city peppering the film. Meanwhile, our intrepid protagonists are oftentimes typing away to the background cacophony of bombs falling and buildings crumbling… and death is never far away.
The era of war and all its minutiae are also brilliantly captured in the movie’s production and costume designs, but it is in its stoic, heroic and – in a couple of cases rather eccentric characters – that its heart truly lies.
Catrin Cole is a typical Arterton role. Yet it is one she plays with humanity, warmth and depth. Catrin is a feisty, independent, intelligent and humorous woman. In her dealings with her chauvinistic colleagues – for better or worse, a product of their time – she brings an understated, yet strong, feminist tone to proceedings.
Her independence is made clear from the outset when she discovers that the twin sisters’ tale of rescue is not quite as thrilling and heroic as originally thought (fake news, if you will…). Yet she decides to proceed anyway; standing up to Ministry apparatchiks (represented by the officious and pompous Richard E Grant) and holding her ground.
It is inevitable that, in Catrin’s squabblings with her aloof, grouchy, yet ultimately endearing colleague Buckley (a charmingly bespectacled Claflin) lie the seeds of romance, despite her being married to war artist Ellis (Jack Huston).
Much of the humour comes from Bill Nighy’s Ambrose Hilliard, a leading light of British cinema who’s so full of himself he can’t accept that he is getting on in age and can only get a supporting role in this new film. Ambrose is funny, and even ridiculous at times. Yet, Nighy accurately hits the right notes of the character’s vulnerabilities, as he is put in his place by his acerbic new agent Sophie Smith (Helen McCrory).
That even the supporting characters leave an impression is notable; they include the aforementioned Sophie; Rachael Stirling as Phyl Moore, a ministry employee often called upon to comment on the misogyny of the time; and Jake Lacy as heroic American pilot Carl Lundbeck, hired to take part in the movie to encourage an American audience and nation to join Britain in its fight against Nazi Germany.