Brad Pitt- Allied and the Second World War.

Allied- a Second World War movie with Brad Pitt and a bittersweet ending.

Let's face it. The Second World War left the world in such a dreadful state that every Hollywood film ever made since 1945 may seem just a loose distortion of the facts and figures. We know what happened in the end of course. The Nazis were trampled, crushed, humiliated, broken in half, gleefully beaten into the ground and then just destroyed. Adolf, you didn't stand a chance mate. You were fighting a losing battle from the moment you invaded Poland. Of course you wanted to wipe out the whole universe and you were a megalomaniac and psychopath. But come on Hitler you were never likely to win and history will tell us that you were, quite literally kidding yourself even if you thought you had us on the run.

 The Second World War was one of the most tragic, heartbreaking, horrendous and harrowing events of the 20th century. It left us with a sense of guilt, resentment, betrayal, loss, grief, permanent damage, seemingly irreparable destruction, blood and most gruesomely, death. Families were cut in half, millions of men lost their life in the horrid glare of bombs and bullets, blown to smithereens on the battlefields of Europe and the rest of the world. But we fought back valiantly and we made sure that the Second World War would never happen again. We had guts and tenacity and Hitler ended up pointing a gun at his head, surrendering meekly and killing himself. Now that's a victory.

 It brought ugly carnage and mayhem, burning buildings, houses, factories, ruined lives and the charred ruins of once thriving communities. War just left us demoralised, devastated, hurt, injured and bleeding.  It wiped out a generation and generations after that. But it did wonders for our morale and powers of resilience because Hitler we just battled back and roared back to something like normality again. So here we are in the throes of the 21st century. Just to prove that you hadn't won anything.

 We're fitter, healthier and stronger and happier than we've ever been.  Of course wars have followed since the Second World War but you couldn't break our spirit or scare us because we were better than that Adolf. We've got harmony, peace and sanity. You can't take that away from us Hitler because the class of 2016 will stick two fingers up at you and remember you as one of the maddest genocidal lunatics ever to draw breath.

Right, that's got that off my chest. This evening my wife and I went to see the new Brad Pitt movie Allied. Allied was of course a Second World War story and as you've probably gathered, war, I think is  utterly avoidable, unnecessary, counter productive and deeply contemptible. Now you could call me some crusading pacifist and maybe I am whistling in the wind. Of course war doesn't solve anything and never will. Millions of lives have been lost in the bloodiest of all wars so there can be no logic and commonsense in killing poor innocent babies and children, blowing up houses or just murder on the most brutal scale.

So here's the story. Allied, starring that ever smouldering American heart throb Brad Pitt, is a powerfully told story set during the Second World War and featuring all of the relevant and inevitable narratives. Allied had stunning photography, brilliant cinematic production values, unforgettable scenery and a highly dramatic conclusion.

Now I have to tell you I've never been keen on war films. All of that blood, gore, death and heartache does nothing for me. In fact by the end I found myself wondering why I'd set eyes on it at all. But there was a  raw earthiness about Allied that was both thought provoking, intelligently delivered and gripping. By the end of the film I was on the point of tears but then remembered that it was just a film , a simple piece of escapism, just harmless make believe and yet it might have happened and that was disturbing.

Max ( Brad Pitt) meets and falls in love with Marianne (Marion Cotillard), set against a backdrop of wonderfully designed sets and countries that look joyously picturesque. Both Max and Marianne are though  somehow destined to meet tragedy head on. It was a love that foundered on the rocks of the French resistance, secrecy and betrayal. It was hard to know where our emotions were going. You were somehow drawn into the story's fluctuating fortunes and roller coaster emotions. One minute there was the triumph of love and the next you felt as if you were on some fairground ride and didn't know how to react.

And so for the scenery that provides Allied with its central focus. The film begins in a desert with Pitt emerging from the sand rather like Lawrence of Arabia. Then we're taken on a breathless adventure, racing backwards and forwards through the hot, dusty streets of Casablanca and then hurtling through more back streets before eventually ending up in the soulful and salubrious surroundings of Hampstead. Hampstead is leafy, slightly rural and very posh. Hampstead seems the most unlikely setting for a Second World War film but it does work. Hampstead has got big, wealthy houses, cafes with an upper class air about them and of course a lovely Heath. Hampstead is undeniably classy and may always be.

So it is that Allied gives us outrageous flirtation, a wild, whirlwind romance, beating, throbbing hearts, passion at its most tempestuous. Max and Marianne settle down after the War but then all the secrets come tumbling out of the cupboard and you'll have to see Allied because it is very gripping and explosive, action packed and full of  those very human feelings that make most of us tick. It is about a relationship that may leave you sighing and a cast of characters that will either tug on your heartstrings or boo at because they just deserve to be booed. Remember my reference to Nazis at the beginning of this piece. Well, needless to say, they lose quite embarrassingly. I'd recommend Allied because it's a well made film and remarkably accurate. Get your popcorn now. You'll like it.