birdienl | Bert and Dickie/The best of men

For the occasion of the London 2012 Olympics, the BBC produced two feature length period films, focusing on important events in British Olympic history. I already knew of this movies last summer and also wanted to watch them around the Olympics, but you know the drill: so much to see, so little time... A few weeks ago I finally managed to watch Bert & Dickie and The best of men and here's what I thought of them.

In Bert & Dickie, we meet rower Bert Bushnell, a young working class boy who hopes to qualify for the upcoming 1948 London Olympics. But in stead of a place in his beloved single sculls, he is chosen to compete in the double sculls with privileged and rich Dickie Burnell. The two men, strangers to each other, are thrown together just five weeks before the Games and have to train hard to form a team and satisfy the expectations of the country.

The 1948 Games were the first post-War Olympics and had to be organized while rationing and austerity was still ongoing and many parts of London were still ruined from the German bombings. An interesting historical background for an interesting story. Though I'm a big Olympics fan, it's not so much the sports I love, it's the human stories behind the medals. The story of Bert & Dickie is one of those.

It was interesting to see Matt Smith in a different role from Doctor Who. He has a very distinctive face and voice, so I couldn't help but continuously think of the Doctor when I saw him playing Bert Bushnell. A solid cast of familiar faces such as Douglas Hodge (Middlemarch, Mansfield Park) and Geoffrey Palmer (He knew he was right) filled up the supporting roles in this movie. The costumes and settings are lovely, as per usual with BBC productions.

Overall, I found this movie to be well-made, but it did not really grab me. Maybe one of the reasons was that it revolved a little bit too much around sports in contrast to the human story. Or maybe I just did not sympathize with Bert and Dickie enough, I found them both to be a little bit annoying and self-centered. The storyline I enjoyed most was the troubled relationship both of the men have with their fathers and how this changes when they learn from each other. There was also some comic relief from a group of British citizens trying to feed the American athletes billeted with them as best as they could with their rationed food. And the long ending scene was thrilling and very beautifully shot, really as a finish of a sports movie should be!

What to know: here are a few instances of British common profanities.

The best of men takes place towards the end of WWII at the Stoke Mandeville hospital. Many young men left partially paralysed by the war are cared for here. When dr. Ludwig Guttmann, a German refugee, starts to work at Stoke Mandeville, he is appalled to see the men sedated and left to spend all day lying in bed. He soon starts to change the hospital regime, involving the patients in musical entertainment and sporting activities, which brings him into conflict with the rest of the hospital staff.

This is the story of the birth of the Paralympic Games and what a beautiful story it is! In this movie, we get to know young men who are hopeless, believing they will spend the rest of their lives in a care home. Through the intervention of the tireless dr. Guttmann, they change into men with a future and things they want to live for!

The role of dr. Guttmann is played quite brilliantly by Eddie Marsan (Little Dorrit), who captures the energy, determination and humor of the doctor, but also shows us in small moments how tired the efforts make him. The patients are played by among others the for me-unknown actors George MacKay and Rob Brydon. The slow change in these men as they go from hopeless to not wanting to believe they could be good for anything to their enthusiasm for life returning is played very convincingly.

It was very interesting to see how spinal patients were treated during the '40s. Though medically a lot was already possible to help these men, the hospitals still operated on the Victorian/Edwardian motto of absolute quiet and strict rules in the wards. There was comparatively little attention to the psychological well being of the patients. The hospital climate of the '40s is brought to live believably with the tell-tale BBC eye for detail in the production values.

Every fan of the Paralympic Games and everyone interested in WWII history should watch this movie, bringing to live a little-known story with great impact. If you're like me, you'll probably need a hanky before the 90 minutes have passed, but will end the movie with a bright smile on your face!

What to know: A few instances of partial male nudity, all in a medical context. One young boy is seen dying. The men spend time talking about their potential to have sex despite their inabilities.Some instances of common profanities.

This review was written for the Period Drama Challenge at Old-Fashioned Charm