‘The Great Escaper’ is An Ode to Love, Service and Living Boldy

Based on true events Michael plays Bernard Johnson, a war veteran and pensioner who escapes the care home he shares with his wife Irene (Glenda Jackson) to attend the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.

Making his way from London to Normandy unassisted, Bernard’s trip makes international headlines as onlookers marvel at his capacity to do the journey and the stoicism he’s demonstrated as a vet.

Bernard bears the characteristics of his generation, carrying all his worldly possessions in a single plastic bag, caring little for the hustled pace around him and placing a high value on gentlemanliness in all circumstances. He’s got an understated wit even age can’t steal, and although the internal wounds of war are still with him, they’re not his dictator.

The Great Escaper has been called a “masterclass in acting” but it’s also a masterclass in honouring the experiences of a demographic rarely prized on screen. It gives space to their lives even though much of it has passed, and places them in the centre of a world that so often relegates them to the fringes.

When Bernard is in the spotlight, unlike others without his maturity, he’s got the sensibility to know journalists aren’t interested in the less-flashy elements of his life and, in fact, are missing some of its most crucial elements.

The Great Escaper touches on the sensitivity of ageing, the validity of the elderly and the beauty of a life dedicated to love and service.

Perhaps that’s why Michael Caine made it last: so that his peers would be honoured, and the next generation would get a taste of the wonder and pain that may lay ahead of them.

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The Great Escaper is in cinemas now.