In the summer of 2014 – the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings – octogenarian Bernie Jordan made global headlines. He’d staged a “great escape” from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades.
It was a story that captured the imagination of the world – Bernie seemed to embody the defiant, “can-do” spirit of a generation that was fast disappearing.
But of course, it wasn’t the whole story.
It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable.
The bitter-sweet script explores the reality with wit and a very big heart. Bernie’s adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Rene – the story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we can all learn from the Greatest Generation.
*THIS MATINEE SCREENING WILL HAVE SUBTITLES*
“A moving and surprisingly nuanced drama offering far more than flag-waving nostalgia.”
Empire
“Michael Caine is gruffly heartbreaking in this veteran adventure”
Guardian
“Glenda Jackson is utterly transfixing in her final film ”
Telegraph
