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Reviews
The Cold Blue (2018)
About the people not the aircraft.
The Cold Blue is not a remake or restoration of William Wyler's original Memphis Belle film from 1943; it's a documentary about the people not the aircraft, and is about the price they paid. It includes some German footage and shows some of the terrible consequences of war on the ground and in the air. Wyler's original 16mm colour footage has been remastered in 4K HD and they have added a sound track, voice-overs and specially recorded Foley. Although it was a simpler process, the result is much more convincing than Peter Jackson's colourisation of archive film from the First World War. I was particularly struck by a couple of airmen who were sporting black eyes and by the black bursts of flak that resembled mushrooms or sinister octopuses.
The film doesn't fly straight and level from A to B, but weaves traditional documentary tropes of rostrum work, voice overs, talking heads and the original film into chapters, and it's edited to feel like the viewer is watching archived clips. The 'making of' section and the before and after restoration comparisons were interesting but I'm not sure the section on Richard Thompson's music added to the film. However, scenes showing veterans viewing the restored footage, which were used to spark their recollections, reassures the viewer that the filmmakers got it right.
Refreshingly, The Cold Blue acknowledges that the United States Army Air Force engaged in area bombing. The film is also not scared of allowing the veterans' testimony to contradict each other. While one veteran says he was never scared, another claimed that everyone was frightened and anyone who says any different is deluded.
Lancaster Skies (2019)
A wizard film!
I went to the cinema prepared to suspend my disbelief but very quickly became involved in the opening scenes of a Lancaster under attack by a Messerschmitt 110 night-fighter.
Although the film is framed by bombing operations, and contains enough 'Lancaster Porn' for the rivet counters who turn up the volume every time a video of anything with a Merlin engine is posted on social media, Lancaster Skies is a film about the people.
The film tells the story of a Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot, who has transferred to Bomber Command and must win the respect of an established Lancaster crew whose pilot was killed. For me however, the stand out performance was from David Dobson as flight engineer George Williams. His sympathetic portrayal of a junior officer struggling to hold his crew together, enjoy life, and not brood on 'the chop' rate is bang on, and there's a feeling of authenticity too in some of the humorous subplots that remind me of Bomber Command veterans' anecdotes I have heard.
The attention to detail and continuity is impressive in a film with a budget of less than £80,000 that was filmed over several years. The few minor historical inaccuracies can be forgiven and I especially enjoyed the nodding references to classic war films, including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Appointment in London, The Dam Busters, and Catch 22.