Glorious 39 Cinema Review

According to Glorious 39 (and I assume history books will agree), the summer of 1939 was a gloriously hot and languid affair, and celebrated by England’s aristocracy with a string of lavish parties. Conflict with Hitler seemed far off, yet within the space of a few weeks democracy would hang by a thread. Even though the details of WW2 may be engraved in everyone’s mind, it is a lesser known fact that the government, with the help of many members of the upper echelons of society, was close to striking a deal with Hitler, in the hope to avoid war at almost any cost. As a consequence, the secret service was continuously being used by the government to quell all opposition to its so-called appeasement policy.

It is this explosive backdrop that director Stephen Poliakoff uses to create his dark conspiracy thriller Glorious 39. Anne (Romola Garai) was adopted into the wealthy Keyes family as a baby. Now the oldest of three children, she leads a seemingly carefree life. An up-and-coming actress, she is adored by all, especially her politician father Alexander (Bill Nighy), and enjoys a somewhat elevated status within the family, which includes her brother Ralph (Eddie Redmayne), who has just started working in the Foreign Office, and younger sister Celia (Juno Temple). It’s all quite darling really – until Anne stumbles upon a sinister secret involving her family that turns her life upside down overnight and threatens to destroy her very existence.

Glorious 39 is a highly stylised film in the mold of a Hitchcock classic. The result is a bit of a mixed bag. Poliakoff fluctuates between highly disturbing and effective scenes, and seriously dippy moments, and the awkward switches between 1939 and the present day do nothing but distract from the plot. This being a British period drama, the country house settings look sumptuous of course, and the costumes are divine. The director’s reputation ensures the assembly of a high-profile cast, and Romola Garai more than justifies her reputation as one of Britain’s fastest-rising stars as the perturbed heroine of the film, who struggles to come to terms with the fact that her idyllic family life is but an illusion.

Glorious 39 is a good film, which is a shame in a way, as the talented cast and controversial subject matter meant that it had the potential to be an absolutely outstanding one.