PRESSURE Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Anthony Maras
Stars: Brendan Fraser, Andrew Scott, Damian Lewis, Chris Messina, Kerry Condon, Alexander Hanson, Tamsin Topolski, Robert Portal.
When asked what gave the allies the advantage on D-Day, General Eisenhower reportedly said: “We had the better meteorologists than the Germans.” Meteorology and weather predictions may not sound like the stuff of high drama, but in Pressure these elements provide plenty of tension. This engaging, intelligent and superbly cast drama is set on the eve of the D-Day invasion of France in 1944 and is based on a little-known true story.
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 the bombastic Colonel 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 James Stagg (Andrew Scott), a dour and humourless Scot. Stagg clashes with Krick, disparaging his reliance on historical weather charts and established precedent to forecast a clear day. Rather, Stagg forecasts storms, high tides and rain, suggesting that the invasion be delayed. Tensions rise as the two men constantly clash and Eisenhower is uncertain of which of the two meteorologists is accurate. The tension is palpable as Eisenhower weighs up his decision. The potentially devastating consequences of delaying the invasion weigh heavily on his mind.
Pressure is based on the 2014 stage play written by actor and playwright David Haig which dramatized the tense heated clashes between the scientists, meteorologists and military men in the lead up to D-Day. Most of the drama takes place within the confines of the drawing room where the meteorologists work, but Australian director Anthony Maras and Haig have attempted to open the drama up beyond its stage setting.
Especially resonant is their depiction of horror of the D-Day landing itself, an intense sequence that will recall the opening of Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. This sequence uses actual footage of the landings that was shot by cinematographers who landed on the beaches with the soldiers. Maras and his team, led by cinematographer Jamie D Ramsay (All Of Us Strangers, etc), have used the same colourisation process that Peter Jackson employed for his documentary Thou Shall Not Grow Old, which lends an authenticity to the material.
Production designer Daniel Taylor (Argylle, etc) has recreated the room in Southwick House where the meteorologists toiled away, using weather maps and old-fashioned equipment to further add to the authentic period detail. And, in a nicely ironic touch, one of the assistants who worked on the project turned out to be the grandson of Stagg.
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, but he also manages to capture the vulnerability and uncertainty beneath his confident exterior. In one of his best performances Scott captures Stagg’s prickly nature; but he also conveys his intelligence, dedication and strength of his own convictions. He was not your typical hero; rather he was a man of great moral courage and strength who had the courage of his convictions and stood fast in the face of Eisenhower and Montgomery, both of whom were very demanding and strong personalities. The clashes between the two men give the drama its emotional impetus.
Damian Lewis is nicely arrogant and insufferable as the volatile British General Bernard Montgomery, whose role has been expanded from the stage play. And Kerry Condon presents a more sympathetic figure as warrant officer Summersby, Eisenhower’s loyal and indispensable driver and assistant, and her solid presence balances out the raging testosterone on display.
With films like Hotel Mumbai and the award winning short The Palace to his credit, it is obvious that Maras has an interest in recent history and he explores events that show courage under adversity. Pressure is a fine and gripping drama centred around one of the most significant historical events of the twentieth century – in this case the largest sea bound invasion ever mounted for D-Day.
★★★★
