Combining archival footage, first-person testimony, digital special effects, and dramatic re-enactments, director Louise Osmond's The Blitz: London's Longest Night chronicles the unprecedented World War II destruction of London by the German Luftwaffe on December 29, 1940. The visceral you-are-there feeling of the film is heightened by matching the re-enacted scenes with voiceover and onscreen recollections by London civilians, now well into their senior years, with particular emphasis placed on the insidious efficiency of the tens of thousands of small incendiary bombs that were dropped in the first waves (these flare-like devices kept London's firefighters overwhelmed for hours, touching off fires that would eventually topple buildings and, in combination with a brisk wind, turn much of the city into a raging inferno). Focusing on the five members of one typical London family, the Feldons, the film also draws on recently declassified documents, while offering insights into the Luftwaffe's sophisticated new targeting system, the amazing survival of London's most conspicuous target (St. Paul's Cathedral), and the initially blasé reaction to the bombings at London's posh Savoy Hotel, where revelers had grown accustomed to the sound of explosions. Effectively illustrating the sheer magnitude of devastation during a seemingly relentless attack that nevertheless failed to break the indomitable British spirit, The Blitz should appeal to World War II buffs and armchair historians alike. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Shannon)
The Blitz: London's Longest Night
(2006) 90 min. VHS or DVD: $24.99 ($54.95 w/PPR). PBS Video. PPR. Color cover. Closed captioned. ISBN: 1-4157-1317-0 (dvd). Volume 21, Issue 3
The Blitz: London's Longest Night
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