Review: Their Finest

Star rating: Very Good 4/5

Their Finest is a graceful and absorbing British wartime drama set in the 1940’s during the London Blitz.

Director of on An Education Lone Scherfig packs the film with grit and emotion - enabled by casting Gemma Arterton; known as the 2008 bond girl Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, and Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair from the Hunger Games series).

Gemma Arterton (Catrin) in Their Finest.

Arterton plays Catrin Cole – a hard-working scriptwriter within the Ministry of Information’s Film Division amidst the chaos of war. She writes dialogue for the actresses – referred to as the “slop”. Her role is symbolic of many women during the Second World War left to fulfil the roles of men.

Director Lone Scherfig.

In an interview for Indiewire, Scherfig commented: “There were female scriptwriters at the time, but they weren’t credited. They did write a lot, and the character is very loosely based on one of them.”

She is later assigned to co-script a propaganda film called the Battle of Dunkirk about a civilian rescue mission during the evacuation of British and Allied troops from France. The aim of this type of film was to boost the morale and instil pride in audiences at home.

Catrin is told by her supervisor Roger Swain (Richard E Grant): “obviously we can’t pay you as much as the chaps.” However, the company rely on her and she later insists that she will require more money. She uses the money to pay the bills for her and her partner Ellis (Jack Huston) – a painter who is frustrated that he can’t provide for them both.

She travels to interview two women, who she scripts as boat-commandeering heroes in the film. On Catrin’s way back from the visit she narrowly escapes a German air raid, and manages to continue with her day choosing to appear unaffected by the devastation she witnessed.

In between scriptwriting the gutsy heroine goes to take shelter underground from the nightly London Blitz. Some of their offices are bombed out in one scene and cast and crew members are killed by the raids but they keep working on the film that they hope will warm the hearts of the nation.

Gemma Arterton (Catrin) and Sam Claflin (Tom).

In the meantime her fellow screenwriters are rude to her - unable to accept that they must share their work with a woman. Her female colleague Phyl Moore is given some of the film’s most prominent lines. She is played by Rachael Stirling who performed with the Edinburgh University Theatre Company during her studies in the city. She went on to star in countless roles in theatre, TV and film.

During the film Phyl tells Catrin: “A lot of men are scared we won’t go back into our boxes when this is all over – it makes them belligerent.”

Catrin’s colleague Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin) develops a romantic interest in Catrin. They are seen arguing and then giggling together as he progressively loses his nastiness towards her. The pair’s love-hate relationship continues when they go on location to Devon and realise that they share a similar sense of wit and begin to build a deeper connection.

Suffolk-born actor Claflin was recently praised in his role in the 2016 romance Me Before You, where he plays a young man who was paralysed after a motorbike accident and builds a bond with his carer. He also worked with director Scherfig when he starred in the 2014 drama/thriller The Riot Club – about first year students at Oxford University who join the infamous club.

Claflin commented in an interview for Collider movie news: “For me, personally, I’d been fortunate enough to work with Lone Scherfig, and she approached me with this script. After having such an incredible experience with her before, I knew that no matter what she gave me, I would happily jump aboard.”

He added: “Honestly, I fell in love with the script. I thought it was a really unique war story, set around a very poignant part of our history.”

The intensifying bond between the two characters carries the film forward and allows it to be laced with smooth lines. When writing Tom often tells her to ‘lose half’, ‘what half?’ Catrin asks, to which he replies: ‘the half you don’t need.’

Some reviews criticise Gaby Chiappe’s screenplay for entering into ‘rom-com territory’ (The Guardian). However, it would be naive to deny Catrin’s story - based on Lissa Evans’ 2009 novel Their Finest Hour and a Half - of any love or laughter.

Arterton comments on getting into her role as Catrin: “That was something that sort of overwhelmed me when I read the script. I thought, ‘There’s so much going on, I can’t place the tone, I can’t say what it is. Is it a historical, gritty drama? Or is it a comedy?'”

Her worries were calmed by her director who managed to combine the two. Scherfig said: “I think the important thing to nail is the tone, the combination of drama and humour. A lot of it is in the script. A lot of it is in the casting. And some of it is having the courage to just do it.”

Her perceptions are accurate. Scherfig takes full advantage of the zany moments that informed the actual production of the Ministry of Information’s films, and also doesn’t shy away from the reality of filmmaking efforts designed to serve a horrific war.

The story weaves between Catrin’s life and their film production. Bill Nighy plays Ambrose Hilliard, adding humour to all of his scenes with theatrical performances as an over-the-top, and gloriously pompous actor – Uncle Frank in their film. He is also able to leave behind his initial ill will of being given direction from a woman to later seeking out Catrin for her assistance.

Nighy was happy for the opportunity to work with the director and identified the part she offered him as a great role. He said: “The script is very entertaining. It’s romantic and it’s funny. It gives you a real idea of their daily lives. It was a brutal time during which people never knew who would be waking up in the morning or even what part of the city would remain standing. They were hungry and terrified and nearly everybody was bereaved or at least anxious about their loved ones overseas.”

Their Finest is a great follow-up film for Danish director Lone Scherfig after her 2009 Oscar-nominated film An Education. This was a coming-of-age tale based on the journalist Lynn Barber’s experience as a teenager in post-war Britain played by Carey Mulligan. It was centred on a tender and morally ambiguous romantic relationship and hailed as being subtle and deliberate in its pacing and tone.

Scherfig's films are generally romantic comedies, including her next film One Day (2011) – based on a Dave Nicholls’ novel. She cast Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the romance which lent it to attracting wider audiences. Critics commented that the plot was simple and predictable, but also praised Scherfig's ability to give the dialogue and tone of the film a distinct freshness.

Although Their Finest is not an action-packed war film - as some may prefer, it illustrates the loss and suffering caused by war and tells the tale of one woman’s strength throughout. Loaded with powerful themes – including gender inequality - the emotionally charged love story comes armed with plenty of punch.

This pleasantly distinct film avoids clichés to tell a worthy war story. For some like Edinburgh’s The List who recognised its ‘comedic charm’, found it ‘bland’ and ‘run-of-the-mill’, others may find the film’s quiet and well observed nature is enlivened by its subtlety. With over 700 reviews on the online film database IMDB it has achieved a high overall rating of 7.2 out of 10.

Details

Language: English

UK Release: April 21, 2017

Genre:  Comedy, Drama, Romance

Director: Lone Scherfig

Screenplay: Gaby Chiappe

Based on novel: Their Finest Hour by Lissa Evans

Cast: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Richard E Grant, Rachael Stirling

Runtime: 117 minutes

Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton, Lone Scherfig, and Sam Claflin at the BFI London Film Festival 2016.