THE GREAT ESCAPER

By Oliver PARKER

SPHERE FILMS - as DISTR Theatrical, TV, DVD-video, VOD, CANADA

Drama - Completed 2021


    • Year of production
    • 2021
    • Genres
    • Drama
    • Countries
    • UNITED KINGDOM
    • Languages
    • ENGLISH
    • Duration
    • 96 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Oliver PARKER
    • Writer(s)
    • William IVORY
    • Producer(s)
    • Robert BERNSTEIN, Douglas RAE
    • Synopsis
    • In the summer of 2014 - the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings - octogenarian Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine) made global headlines. He’d staged a “great escape” from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades. It was a story that captured the imagination of the world - Bernie seemed to embody the defiant, “can-do” spirit of a generation that was fast disappearing. But of course, it wasn’t the whole story. It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable. The bitter-sweet script explores the reality with wit and a very big heart.
      Bernie’s adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Irene (Glenda Jackson) - the story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we can all learn from the Greatest Generation.