The Melbourne International Film Festival runs across cinemas in Melbourne from August 6 through until August 23, and offers up a diverse range of features, documentaries and short films.
ALL FILMS REVIEWED BY GREG KING
LAST UPDATED AUGUST 5
PRESSURE.
Based on a true story, this engaging, intelligent and superbly acted drama is set on the eve of the D-Day invasion of France in 1944.
General Eisenhower (played here by Brendan Fraser), the supreme commander of the allied forces has assembled a team of meteorologists and charged them with giving him an accurate forecast for the day of the proposed landings – originally Monday June 5, 1944. Eisenhower’s team is led by Krick (Chris Messina), upon whom he has relied in the past.
But Churchill insists on having one of his own men lead the team. Enter Group Captain Stagg (Andrew Scott), a dour and humourless Scot. Stagg clashes with Krick, disparaging his reliance on historical weather charts to forecast a clear day. Instead, Stagg forecasts storms, high tides and torrential rain, suggesting that the invasion be delayed, much to the horror of General Bernard Montgomery (Damian Lewis). Tensions rise as the two men constantly clash and Eisenhower is uncertain of which of the two meteorologists is accurate and which one to trust. The tension is palpable as Eisenhower weighs up his decision.
Pressure is based on the 2014 stage play written by actor and playwright David Haig. Most of the drama takes place within the confines of the drawing room where the meteorologists work, but Australian director Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai, etc) and Haig have attempted to open up the drama beyond its stage setting – especially with their depiction of horror of the D-Day landing itself, an intense sequence that will recall the opening of Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan.
Maras has assembled a solid ensemble cast to bring these historical figures to life. Fraser is full of bluster as Eisenhower, upon whose shoulders rests the decision of the timing to launch Operation Overlord. Scott captures Stagg’s prickly nature, but he also conveys his intelligence, dedication and strength of his own convictions. Damian Lewis is nicely arrogant and insufferable as the British General Bernard Montgomery. And Kerry Condon presents a more sympathetic figure as warrant officer Summersby, Eisenhower’s loyal and indispensable assistant, and her solid presence balances out the raging testosterone on display.
Pressure is a fine and gripping drama centred around one of the most significant historical events of the twentieth century.
