Fires Were Started (1943)

Fires Were Started: Directed by Humphrey Jennings. With Philip Dickson, George Gravett, Fred Griffiths, Johnny Houghton. A tale of firefighters in London during the Blitz.

“Fires Were Started has no stock footage. However, it is similar to such in that an ignorant 1990s eye risks being unable to see through the strangeness of 1940s Britain to the lives and tensions portrayed in this film. Fires Were Started is a witty, poetic account of the war effort understood as the acts of everyday Londoners. You can work hard watching it dissecting the poetic sequences of imagery; you can take it easy and enjoy the people we meet or you can follow the exciting narrative of 24 hours during the bombing of London. Poetry.”