Pressure (The Movie)

 

After 80+ years, one might imagine that the public's appetite for World War II movies (and D-Day movies in particular) might have been satiated by now. But, as with books about that war, the interest never seems to fade. As a child of a World War II European Theater veteran, neither does my interest ever fully fade in that seemingly endlessly fascinating story. (As it happened, while waiting for the film to start, one of the many movie trailers was for yet another WWII film, set apparently at the Battle of the Bulge!)

This latest D-Day movie is Pressure, directed Anthony Maras, written by him and David Haig and based on Haig's 2014 stage play. It stars Andrew Scott as the British meteorologist James Stagg, and Brendan Fraser as General Eisenhower.

The historical event behind the film is the effect of the weather on the initial plan for the D-Day invasion, which was originally scheduled for June 5, 1944. British Chief Meteorological Officer Dr. James Stagg accurately forecast a severe, catastrophic storm, which forced Eisenhower to make the decision to delay the invasion by 24 hours to June 6. Then he successfully forecast a break in the storm, which allowed the invasion to go ahead after all one day later on June 6. The film's title, Pressure, may be a play on both the enormous decision-making challenges Eisenhower faced (with the consequently intense pressure on him and everyone around him) and also the barometric indicators being tracked by competing meteorologists coming to opposite conclusions with the limited predictive capacities available to the military in 1944..

Of course, we know the story. The outcome is no surprise. so the drama lies netirely inthe interplay of the personalities involved. The film effectively captures the atmosphere at Allied Headquarters and the overwhelming tension surrounding the preparations for the biggest invasion in history. It also captures the interplay of strong personalities in ego-driven competition under those stressful circumstances - notably British General Montgomery (Damian Lewis)'s rivalry with Eisenhower and the American meteorologist Irwin Krick (Chris Messina)'s rivalry with Stagg. At any given moment anyone of them can come across as arrogant. An important calming influence in the tense environment is Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon), who seems to navigate well the powerful storm of warrior egos and manages to calm not only Eisenhower but also Stagg, whom she alone seems to see as another person.

The film portrays Eisenhower's stirring D-Day message, against the background of the landing and accompanying casualties. We also get to hear his famous second message, in the event of failure, confided to in the movie to Summersby. "My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone." It was a classic act of personal responsibility, characteristic of the man and something to be expected in his time. It is hard to imagine any public figure today expressing nay comparable degree of personal accountability for a political or other public failure. Nor is such acknowledgment of personal responsibility any longer anything that is expected today, so catastrophically changed is our political and moral landscape.

Eisenhower also gave credit where it was due. As he later said, D-Day succeeded because "we had better meteorologists than the Germans."