Steve McQueen on How WWII Drama ‘Blitz’ Became ‘More Urgent’ in Face of Escalating Global Violence: ‘What the Hell Are We Doing?’
variety.comAlex Ritman Steve McQueen is set to open the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday night with a world premiere — and it’s not his first time doing so.
But his new film “Blitz” is very different from crime thriller “Widows,” which lifted the curtain back in 2018. “Blitz” is set in WWII London as it came under devastating nightly attacks from German bomber planes, with a population that was forced to seek shelter underground not knowing what would be left of the city they returned to each morning.
Taking place over just a few days, the visceral drama follows a 9-year-old boy — played by newcomer Elliot Heffernan — sent off to safety in the countryside but determined to return home to find his mother (Saoirse Ronan), who likewise is desperately searching for her missing son amid the chaos and carnage.
For the Oscar-winning and two-time BAFTA-winning McQueen, the idea of “Blitz” first began forming in 2003, when he was best known as a visual artist (his debut feature “Hunger” was released in 2008) and was sent to Iraq as the U.K.’s official war artist.
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