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Queen and Country
By Sandie Angulo Chen,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Charming but mature post-WWII coming-of-age drama.
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Queen and Country
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What's the Story?
QUEEN AND COUNTRY is the sequel to director John Boorman's semi-autobiographical 1987 drama Hope and Glory, which followed a boy (based on Boorman) living in London during World War II. Set nine years after the end of the war, Queen and Country checks back in with Bill (Callum Turner) as an 18-year-old facing conscription into the National Army. Is there that he meets another conscript, troublemaker Percy (Caleb Landry Jones), the son of a war hero. Despite their different personalities, the two become roommates and best mates, neither of whom can stand their superior officers -- especially rigid Sgt. Major Bradley (David Thewlis), who threatens to have them court-martialed for the most minor of infractions; Draconian Regimental Sergeant Major Digby (Brian F. O'Byrne); and clever but disapproving Major Cross (Richard E. Grant). On the bright side, Bill and Percy both find young ladies to pursue, although Bill's object of affection is a mysterious "older" university student who won't even tell him her name, so he calls her Ophelia (Tamsin Egerton).
Is It Any Good?
Boorman hasn't directed a film since 2006, so it's delightful to see he hasn't lost his touch at making a thoughtful, introspective movie based on his own experiences. Since Hollywood overtly favors youth, it's refreshing to see a film by an elderly director who can still so poignantly capture the emotional struggles of becoming a man in the age after a world war. Of course, it helps that Queen and Country is a fictionalized memoir of Boorman's own life, much like Hope and Glory. Turner is wonderfully expressive and vulnerable as Bill, on the cusp of adulthood and on the fence about everything around him. He's neither a communist nor a capitalist. He's not a skiver or a clown, but he's not interested in the strict life of an Army man.
The supporting cast is excellent at navigating the serious with the humorous. Jones is completely believable as the joker to Bill's thinker, the one more interested in chasing dames (and losing his virginity) than following in his father's footsteps as a decorated veteran. Although some of the movie's promotional materials seem to stress the story's romance, it's not a typical boy-woos-girl-outside-his-class love story. Bill's romance with his Ophelia isn't a sweeping, visceral affair like in Atonement; it's a romance much better in his mind than in reality. But Egerton is lovely as the fragile, damaged young woman beholden to her aristocratic background. Queen and Country is a little bit of everything: sweet, thought-provoking, funny, and poignant -- just like that time in life always has been and always will be.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about historical coming-of-age movies. How do Bill's struggles compare to those of today's 18-year-olds? What's the same, and what's unique to the period he grew up in? What makes something a coming-of-age story?
Queen and Country is the sequel to Hope and Glory, which came out in 1987. Is that too long between films, or does this one stand alone because it captures a different time in the character's life?
How are the early '50s portrayed in the film? Why was it such an important time in global politics? Why does Bill say he doesn't believe in either communism or capitalism?
Movie Details
- In theaters: February 18, 2015
- On DVD or streaming: September 8, 2015
- Cast: Callum Turner , David Thewlis , Caleb Landry Jones
- Director: John Boorman
- Studio: BBC
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: History
- Run time: 105 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: June 8, 2022
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