‘The Great Escaper’ is a biographical drama adaptation of the Bernard Jordan story, where the octogenarian had left his care home in order to travel to a beach in France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings. Following his trip there and back again, the story revolves around Bernie (Michael Caine) and his wife Irene (Glenda Jackson) and how the past still touches on their lives.
Setting up our hero as a regular senior citizen, the film follows Bernie as he goes for a morning stroll, returns to his flat in the care home and breakfasts with Irene. Receiving the news that he won’t be able to go to the 70th anniversary commemorations due to delays in organizing the trip, Irene convinces Bernie to go anyway.
Setting off in hopes for the best, Bernie makes it to the ferry across the Channel and meets a fellow veteran Arthur (John Standing). Joining him for companionship, Bernie revisits the beach on which he landed and eventually convinces Arthur to go and visit the cemetery where he suspects his brother to be buried. On returning home, Bernie faces the media circus that had formed in his absence, awaiting the 90-year-old runaway coming home. Bernie rejoins Irene and confronts her with the memories of war that still haunt him.
Adapting a real life story about a veteran with a can-do attitude could have been played a lot differently. The creative team behind the feature, director Oliver Parker and writer William Ivory, have managed to develop a sweet, yet not overtly saccharine re-telling of the man’s journey to pay his respects and to revisit decades old trauma. What the film does ever so well, is to focus on the destructive force that is war and how its impact can last a lifetime, casting a shadow over those affected forever.
Succeeding in not delivering a patronizing story about war and love, the leads in Caine and Jackson deliver a true-to-life happy marriage, where the two counterparts still feel for one another what they had all those years ago. Honing in on the footprints that the war had left on Bernie, the film showcases in parallel the feelings that Irene had had regarding Bernie, amplifying the notion that war creates trauma that affects everybody. Touching on the fact that Bernie and Irene scarcely revisited his experiences during the war, the film highlights the relationship as a support mechanism for both, as the things that remained unsaid were dealt with through love, care and understanding.
Not having diminished with each passing war, the film touches on how PTSD affects each person going to war or having been in action. Bernie meets Scott (Victor Oshin) a young veteran who had stepped on a mine, at the port on his way to France. Encountering him there a couple of times, Bernie invites Scott to admit that he is not well, conveying that seeking help will aid the young man in dealing with his issues. Addressing the trauma caused by warfare, the film acknowledges the damage war can cause and actively encourages those involved to reconcile that fact.
‘The Great Escaper’ could have been an overtly sentimental and condescending feature about patriotism and loyalties, but instead generates an open discussion about the complex feelings and issues surrounding war, whilst delivering a charming and poignant message about coping with the fallout of the past struggle.
Score: 3/4
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