Their Finest

What's the title? Their Finest

Who directed it? Lone Scherfig

When was it released? 2016

What’s it rated? R for some language and a scene of sexuality

Would I recommend it? Yes, but with the caveat that this story isn’t exactly what it says on the tin. There’s a lot more subtlety and nuance going on in Their Finest than the feel-good story of triumph it advertises itself as. And yes, there is a feel-good story of triumph here, but it’s not the one you’d expect. And the war here isn’t for decoration, for pretty costumes and easy stakes – it’s a harsh and imposing reality. Their Finest is an odd, uneasily defined film, but I’d say it’s definitely worth the watch.

What's it about?(non-spoilers) “A former secretary, newly appointed as a scriptwriter for propaganda films, joins the cast and crew of a major production while the Blitz rages around them.” - IMDb

What did you think? (spoilers) When I first saw the trailers for Their Finest, I assumed the film was a workplace romance with heavy doses of female empowerment and historical set-pieces. But while the film does have a workplace romance and there is female empowerment and the set-pieces are historic that’s not what this film is. I thought Their Finest was going to be a love story and it was. Just not between people.

The first two-thirds of the movie follows a fairly paint-by-numbers romance story. Girl in a strained relationship gets a sudden promotion, she and her boss have immediate tension and connection. The two grow closer over time, obstacles appear and disappear for their relationship, there’s a quarrel, a makeup. It’s all very by the book. However simple the love story, it’s made delightful by the real-life complexity of our main characters, Catrin and Buckley. But even while the film is clipping along its rom-com path, the movie never devotes itself entirely to that story. Catrin, our heroine, has a life outside of Buckley and the affairs of the heart. She’s trying to assert herself as an independent woman when everyone belittles her. She’s a woman trying to champion other women. She’s trying to be the best at a job she found herself in quite accidentally. She’s trying to survive living in London during the Blitz. For Catrin, there is always the work and the war.

First, let’s look at the war. The characters may be romanticizing the fight for their propaganda film, but Their Finest does an admirable job of showing the realities of living during wartime. Just as soon as the audience starts to melt into the familiar comfort of the feel-good aspects of the movie, a bomb will drop – literally. Or Catrin will have to sleep in the Underground instead of her home. Or a man will have to carry his dog on their walk because there’s too much broken glass lying around. The Brits are doing their best to keep a firm upper lift through it all, but it’s hard to keep from cracking at least a little when you come home from a successful day at the office to find your home has been turned to literal rubble. I was genuinely worried that the main couple wouldn’t solve their differences before one of them died. The fact that at any moment one of the characters I’ve come to know and care for could be taken away brought an ever-present current of tension throughout the film.

Then there’s the work. With people dying in their homes and on the front, the act of making a movie could seem rather trivial. But Their Finest shows the importance of art and good storytelling. The most exciting and happy moments of the film happen when the characters are spit balling and problem solving together. Catrin and Buckley are their most alive when they are breaking a story, editing dialogue, handling actors on set. Their connection to one another is built out of their work, putting their heads together to create something magical and resonant – something that speaks to people. If the war is the dark cloud hanging over the movie, the work is the sunshine seeping through anyway.

The love story between Catrin and Buckley is sweet. They aren’t the greatest couple of all time, but they are good together, and I was rooting for them. There’s also a few great scenes and lines that made me sigh. They weren’t perfect people, but no one in the film was. I loved that no one in the film was the villain. Every character was flawed, but ultimately doing their best in untenable circumstances. The antagonist of the film is the war – what it takes from these people and how – but as mindless and awful as the war is, it also gives the characters the opportunity to be the best version of themselves. Ultimately, that idea is what the film is about, which brings us to the final third of the film.

Now, I know I put a spoiler warning on this part of the review, but this is one of those instances where I feel the need to reiterate – SPOILERS. If you have any intention of seeing this film (and I recommend that you do) and want to see it without being spoiled (which I would also recommend you do) then DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT. Go, watch the movie, then come back.

Ok, so like I said, I was worried that Buckley was going to die before he and Catrin finally resolved their issues and got together (I assumed our heroine would survive). But they do get together, and it’s a great scene, happy and joyous. But as Buckley is walking away, smiling back at Catrin, a feeling rises up in my stomach. Shortly comes a crash, a shudder, and just before the lights go out the scaffolding behind Buckley sways. When the lights come back up, Buckley lies on the ground – dead.

I SCREAMED. My mouth dropped and I literally could not close it for the next three minutes. I tried – I willed my jaw shut but it just dropped again. This was fake! This was manipulative! This was trying to wring shock and unearned emotion from the narrative! Only – was it? I had been scared for Buckley’s life for most of the film. Several characters had died over the course of the film, suddenly and without warning. Why would the Blitz care if Buckley died before or after he and Catrin got together? Like Phyl said, there’s no knowing what will happen so best to grab what moments you can. So maybe Catrin and Buckley only got their one moment – it’s not enough, not nearly, but it is something.

Catrin mourns Buckley, of course she does. She doesn’t know what to do with herself. But then Bill Nighy’s character, Ambrose, a complex, insufferable and endearing character throughout the film, comes to tell her to see the picture she and Buckley made. So she does, and it’s a good film. From the clips I saw, I found myself wishing I could watch this movie in real life. You see the reaction the film has on the audience around her, you see the reaction it has on Catrin.

The end of the film finds Catrin sitting at Buckley’s desk, happily breaking a story just as Buckley himself once did at the beginning of the film. In the midst of the war, Catrin found the work through Buckley. The love between Buckley and Catrin grew out of their mutual love for the work. Catrin may have lost Buckley – and that was tragic – but she still has the work. So even with the war and the loss, Catrin finds her happy ending.

Images: IMDb, PIXABAY

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