Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Quick Brief Background History - War Brides WWI & WWII
Wartime Britain was host to ten of thousands of allied serviceman lonely and far from home. Many of the young women living around the military camps were swept off their feet by the young visitors romance blossomed and marriages were hastily arranged before the new husbands were posted away to war. More than one hundred thousand British war brides and large numbers of children were given berths on war-time troop transports and sailed the treacherous seas to their new lives their husband's homeland waiting in hope to be together once again. Most were bound for Canada, others to the United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Large groups of European women were also transported through Britain and their numbers swell the total departure figures.
Film - The War Bride - London 1941
London, most men were away at war it was the height of the Blitz, things weren't looking so good, spirits needed to be raised high, Lily (Anna Friel) and friends were looking to have fun. There had been a buzz of gossip that allied serviceman were in town, the girls rally, put on their glad rags for dancing to meet some new men. At the war dance Lily meets a Canadian soldier on leave one Charlie Travis (Aden Young) they quickly fall madly in love and with an urgency of being literally under the gun they get married before the week is out, Charlie is soon thereafter called back to the front, Lily now thinks she's also pregnant.
Two Years later, Lily has only seen her husband for thirteen days over the entire course of their marriage. She then receives word from the Canadian Embassy that she and her baby daughter are to live in Canada to wait for her husband's return. Lily's quiet sold on the idea as Charlie had told her about his place the Ranch in Canada, this also means living with her Canadian in-laws.
Remote, rural Spring Hill, Alberta, Canada isn't very welcoming; Lily turns up in her bright red lipstick matching red hat and lots of London cockney spirit, it doesn't sit well with the mother in-law Betty (Brenda Ficker) as she looks in disbelief at what her son has married and is more concerned that she won't be getting Charlie's pay check as this now goes to his new wife. Charlie's crippled sister Sylvia (Molly Parker) finds Lily's brash manner too forward for their simple life. Lily realizes she may have just swapped one horrendous existence for another as she struggles to survive with the in-laws on a dilapidated farm in the bleak wildness, she feels so alone, what has Charlie landed her in and when will he be coming home.
My Overview
This is such a lovely Film to watch. I would like to say at this point the film moves very quickly through London and it's Blitz some may feel this seems a little rushed to begin with, but this film was only done on a small budget and the point of the film is about the new life for this war bride after London, in Canada things are more drawn out which really make up for it.
Wonderful Casting, all the main characters in this film show their own wounds from this war and I mean shown from what's inside their insecurities, resentments, perceived slights or damaged self-esteem and how people in life tread careful around things simmering, restraining themselves, until a sudden point of boiling over, this is so well acted from all the cast. I also loved the many little touches to this film which made it special, like passed down stories you may have heard from your own grandparents, such as huddling together on a dance floor during a Blitz as the party continues in whispers or a wedding dress made from a table cloth due to lack of money or material just the simple touches.
It's funny, happy, sad, endearing, touching, a fascinating smart and involving story, it's a film about Hope. Working this well, Screenwriter Angela Workman loosely based her script on her own mother's life. The wonderful scenery and 1940's costumes, fabulous music from this era all add to make it great. The Cast were all very strong in this, Anna Friel who I have seen growing through the years in great productions on UK TV, this preformance on film I believe is one of her best.
Extra Information - Language Used
Lily and friends are from London's East End, so the accent used by them all would be English Cockney. Only a few London English Cockney slang words are used in passing and explained in this Film.
Great Film Recommended.
Andrea Bowhill
Click Here to see more reviews about: The War Bride (2008)
Winner of the Grand Prize at the Heartland Film Festival, this World War II drama stars Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) as Lily, a vivacious girl in war-torn London. She falls in love with Charlie (Aden Young, The Starter Wife, a Canadian serviceman. Impulsively, they marry, and Lily becomes pregnant before Charlie returns to the conflict. Lily and her infant daughter join the throngs of war brides offered the chance to start new lives in Canada. Lily discovers that the family "ranch" Charlie told her about is actually a weathered, worn-out farm house located 60 miles away from the nearest big city. Charlie's mother (Fricker) and sister (Parker) are hostile to the "big city" newcomer, but Lily is determined not to let them break her spirit.
