Unexpected Future Classic

Rating: 9/10 (23 September 2006)

Just back from seeing the film 24/sept I can hardly recall a jot of the dialogue, but cannot get the themes, the cinematography, the action or the mood out of my head. This is a gritty film, and even the inclusion of the twee balloon (pigs might fly) outside the window in the Battersea scene and the mawkish Hollywood-esquire sentimentality of the soldiers' pause in fighting later in the film serve the purpose of enabling the director to roughly drag the viewer back to his 'reality'.
Michael Caine's ageing hippie, cheerfully devoted to his invalid partner and ruthlessly executed by the self-styled liberators is in stark contrast to the pragmatically loveless society portrayed. Images recalling Guantanamo, Abu Graib, contemporary conflict between western power and Islamic determination, detention and abuse of migrants, 20th century images of the Warsaw ghetto, the Hungarian Uprising and the fragility of redemption are interwoven as Clive Owen struggles to make sense of what is going on. He becomes an unlikely hero whilst Bexhill becomes Beirut. There are no 'bad guys' or 'good guys', just a bleak expression of how ordinary people respond to extraordinary circumstances according to their own perspectives, but the innocent suffer more than the guilty,- chillingly real.
A thought-provoking cinematographic experience with excellent soundtrack, brilliantly understated acting and stunning, visuals.
I will certainly buy this one when the DVD is released. I also hope no-one will ever attempt a sequel, which would destroy the enigmatic impact of the film. Hollywood, keep your hands off!