Another Mother’s Son (12A)

Directed by Christopher Menaul

3/5

AT A time when fascism seems to be disturbingly on the rise again, this drama is a timely reminder of the harsh realities of life under nazi rule and a celebration of the acts of unsung bravery of ordinary people during WWII.

While there have been umpteen films about the blitz, the French resistance and the Holocaust, little attention has been paid to the five-year long German occupation of the Channel Islands.

Screenwriter Jenny Lecoat has described this as a love letter to the people of Jersey who lived through that occupation.

Set in 1942, it is based on the extraordinary true story of her great aunt Louisa Gould (Jenny Seagrove), an unassuming widow and mother of two sons, who looked after an escaped Russian PoW (Julian Kostov), who she affectionately named Bill.

She did so for almost two years before she was grassed on to the Germans by another member of the local community and sentenced to imprisonment in Germany along with her brother Harold (Ronan Keating) and their friend Nicole (Felicite Du Jeu).

The film explores the unbelievable things the Jersey-dwellers did to survive under nazi rule on an impoverished and hunger-ridden island abandoned to its own devices by a British government which didn’t rate it as a priority.

While some collaborated, others fought back in differing degrees.

All British-born residents were immediately deported to Germany unless they were in management, so Gould sought to get her British brother-in-law Arthur (John Hannah) promoted to assistant postmaster so he could stay in Jersey.

With heartfelt performances by its solid cast — including Keating, who gets to sing in Russian to divert nazi attention — the drama poignantly examines the risks and the dangers these people took and their loyalty, courage, sacrifice and humaneness when faced with such barbarity.

Unfortunately, though, veteran TV director Christopher Menaul delivers what looks and feels more like a made-for-TV film.

This fascinating and thought-provoking story deserves better.