Above: Shirley Maclaine and Christopher Plummer

Though his brother David, star of countless BBC nature documentaries and one of the most recognisable voices on television, may now be the better-known of the Attenborough brothers, it is the eldest, Richard, who has been famous for longer – and who is decidedly better-known outside the UK.


“Dickie”, as he’s known to his friends – “Lord Attenborough” to the rest of us, following his elevation to the peerage back in 1993 – made his first screen appearance in one of the finest British films of the Second World War, the 1942 Noel Coward and David Lean collaboration In Which We Serve. Not just Attenborough’s acting debut, but also Lean’s directorial debut, it inspired both men to go on to greatness – Lean making the likes of Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Attenborough countless classic films as actor as well as, as director, the likes of the multiple award-winners A Bridge Too Far, Ghandi and Chaplin. Now, at the age of 84, Attenborough is returning to warfare for his twelfth outing as director – and using his advanced years very much to his advantage.


Having come of age during a war and spent much of his late teens and early twenties starring in morale-raising propaganda pieces for the British government, while not serving with the Royal Air Force, warfare has been Attenborough’s lifelong obsession. His first film as director was the pacifist musical satire Oh! What a Lovely War back in 1969, with his next two epic productions, Young Winston and A Bridge Too Far, likewise focussing on the hardships of battle, while 1983’s Ghandi and 1987’s Cry Freedom both successfully analysed the impact of violent oppression and peaceful resistance. Add to that acting appearances in the classic likes of The Great Escape and Guns at Batasi, warfare and human conflict has been a theme running throughout his 65-year career.


With an impressive cast that includes the veterans Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer alongside the younger likes of Neve Campbell and Mischa Barton, Closing the Ring could easily be seen as semi-autobiographical – in theme if not in actual storyline. Opening in early 1990s Michigan before shifting in flashback to the Second World War, this is a tale of friendships shattered by conflict and a yearning for the things that might have been, had only the war of more than six decades ago been avoided. It is hard not to think that Attenborough, now approaching the end of his life, must have seen much that spoke to him personally in the screenplay, written by the son of the actor Edward Woodward, his old friend and colleague.


The end result, though – perhaps unsurprisingly, given the sheer quality of his past output – not one of Attenborough’s best, largely due to the complications of a subplot about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and a tendency towards sentimentalism, is nonetheless a welcome treat, eight years after Attenborough’s last movie. With his actor’s sensibility, Attenborough has again brought out some excellent performances from his top-notch cast – notably cult favourite Pete Postlethwaite and, surprisingly, erstwhile Casualty star Brenda Fricker. Some beautiful cinematography from long-time Attenborough (and Terry Gilliam) collaborator Roget Pratt gives the period pieces a sense of wistful charm which works perfectly with the emotional storyline. If the end result may be a little melodramatic for some modern audiences, it is nonetheless entirely appropriate for a film that in style as well as in storyline harks back to a lost age. Fans of Attenborough should not be disappointed – this is old-school filmmaking with the touch of a veteran movie master.

Below: Pete Postlewaite.