While the beginning of The last escape I was trying to remember if I had ever seen Michael Caine compose an old man on screen. By age – he was 90 when the film premiered – he is, but here he is an older adult confined in a nursing home with his wife, played by Glenda Jackson.
And his character is not an ordinary guy. Bernard Jordan escapes from his English nursing home so he can attend the commemorations for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the landings in Normandy in World War II (which was June 6, exactly one week ago).
And there he goes, to France, crossing the English Channel, leaving his beloved, but counting, in his own way, on her blessing for the trip.
The film appeals to flashbacks to the time of World War II, when Bernard and Rene, as the subtitle reads, met. Yes, as in Diary of a passionto show if it were easy how much they loved and love each other.
Michael Caine, who announced that he was leaving the cinema after this film, and the Glenda Jackson who died almost a year ago. Fortos Diamond Films
Once Bernard leaves the asylum, the actions will pivot from the nursing home, where no one knows he has escaped, to his arrival in France, where this former naval officer will meet other ex-combatants.
The truly incredible thing is that The last escape It is based on a true story.
Great performances by Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson
And the truly fabulous thing is seeing the actor from Hannah and her sisters and that it was Alfred in the batman Christopher Nolan with the actress A touch of distinction and Passionate Women, who was 87 years old when he died almost a year ago, on June 15, 2023. He did not see the premiere of his posthumous film.
The film is not anchored in jingoism, but rather in nostalgia.
Director Oliver Parker is a ductile guy, who can jump from a comedy with Rowan Atkinson to directing a version of Othello of Shakespeare, or go through The Portrait of Dorian Gray. And it is in the relationship between Bernard and Rene where the best moments of the film anchor.
There is, of course, a lot of sentimentality, but the performers return it and it reaches the viewer like a mime.
What is a sad movie? Yes, sure, but it’s also full of nostalgia.
The relationship between Bernard and Rene is what illuminates this Oliver Parker drama.
What Parker has created is a simple drama. Bernie is a proud, phlegmatic Englishman, but the feeling of jingoism is kept to a minimum. For example, in the scene where Bernard finds the grave of the soldier he met on the ship they crossed the English Channel on that June 6, 1944. And all he says is “What a waste.”
Tender at times, moving at others, with a touch of humor so that the pain dissipates a little, The last escape (The last escaperaccording to the original title) is one of those films that are no longer made.
Drama. United Kingdom, 2023. Original title: “The Great Escaper”. 97′, SAM 13. Of: Oliver Parker. With: Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson, John Standing, Will Fletcher, Laura Marcus. Rooms: Cinemark Palermo, Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Showcase Belgrano and Norcenter.
