Knowing the importance of D-Day will not spoil Anthony Maras’ suspenseful film “Pressure,” which centers on brainy science and the stress of leadership rather than traditional combat. Playing at the M.V. Film Center starting on July 10, “Pressure” is based on true events, and begins with a backstory.
Shot from above, we look down on a potentially lethally wounded soldier lying in shallow, blood-soaked water on a beach. Words appear on screen, setting the scene: “Allies just attempted a large-scale rehearsal for D-Day, known as Exercise Tiger. It was a catastrophe.” To train the men as realistically as possible, Eisenhower had ordered the use of live ammunition. When the camera pulls back, we see hundreds of dead, wounded, and dying soldiers on the beach.
Six weeks later, just 61 hours before the planned date for the Allied invasion of Normandy, a surly, uptight Group Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) is summoned to Southwick House in England, the headquarters where Gen. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) and his top staff are making plans for the crucial operation for the war in Europe against the Nazis. Upon learning that Stagg is a master meteorologist, it dawns on us how crucial a role this element could play in the invasion’s success — or defeat.
Eisenhower orders Stagg to bring him a definitive long-term weather forecast for what is planned to be the largest seaborne invasion force in history. It’s impossible, Stagg responds, because current equipment can’t provide enough information beyond 24 hours. Eisenhower is unimpressed and demands results. The film then counts down as the fateful decisions are made.
Before his arrival, under the direction of American Colonel Irving Krick (Chris Messina), the meteorology team had been relying on data gathered since 1900, trying to cull patterns to make predictions. Stagg is unimpressed by their methods, preferring instead to gather up-to-the-minute weather intelligence from countries in the surrounding area.
The tension between the two scientists rises throughout the film as Krick assuredly predicts sunny weather for the planned D-Day attacks. Stagg, on the other hand, is adamant that the aggressive storms approaching Normandy will bring unprecedented, disastrous weather for this time of year. There will be eight- to 12-foot waves making landing impossible, low clouds hampering the planes’ ability to fly, and visibility of less than a mile, hurting all involved.
As the film progresses, we are caught up in the intense “pressure” of what will happen as the two men work on their predictions, which could affect the outcome of the war. At one point, Field Marshal Montgomery, one of Britain’s most successful and prominent commanders of World War II, tries to intimidate Stagg, saying, “If D-Day is canceled, we’ll lose this war. Do you want to be responsible for losing the war?”
Despite the enormity of the topic, there is an intimacy to Maras’ film, which he wrote along with David Haig, based on the latter’s 2014 stage play. Most of the action unfolds in several rooms at Southwick House. But Maras skillfully splices in brief glimpses of battlefield footage to keep us grounded in the reality of the consequences of decisions that were made by the men at headquarters, far from the frontlines.
The music by Academy awardwinning composer Volker Bertelmann likewise keeps the pressure building, augmenting this well-crafted, high-stakes, clock-ticking war-room narrative.
“Pressure” screens at the M.V. Film Center starting on July 10. For tickets and more information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.
