QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM MALTA
The year is 1942. Italians and Germans bomb Malta relentlessly, while also promoting a siege. They wish to ensure that no food reaches the nation. Their aim is to weaken the island – which happens to be of very high strategically location – through starvation. The British fight as hard as they can to keep the enemy away, and the nation under their purview. At that time, Malta was still a British Crown Colony. The allegiance of the locals is firmly with the country that have controlled them since the beginning of the 19th century. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they have little sympathy for those razing their rock nation to the ground. They prefer the more familiar rulers.
Malta Story is a finely crafted British production and a convenient geopolitical tool. The roundel is the film’s most featured signifier. The nation led by Winston Churchill is presented as virtuous and dignified. The Axis Powers gave the biggest colonisers in world history a chance to restore their reputation, and to promote the idea that British imperialism was a force of good. The small Mediterranean nation has indeed enjoyed a good relationship with their oppressors of yore. Their independence in 1964 was mostly amicable, and the two European countries remain very close allies – geopolitically and culturally – to this date. Malta Story is a celebration of this unusual marriage.
The relationship between the two countries is embodied by Flight Lieutenant Peter Ross (Alec Guinness) and beautiful Maltese Maria (Muriel Pavlow), who works in the war operations room. An explosion claimed her father’s life. The beautiful house that he build was heavily bombed. Nevertheless, this is where she lives with her doting mother Melita (Flora Robson), and other relatives. Kind and generous Peter and clueless and hard-working Maria fall deeply in love as they discuss colonialism at the archeological sites of Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim, a major tourist attraction in Southern Malta. At one point, he questions how she could be infatuated by one of her oppressors, however such concerns are quickly dispelled by Guinness’s irresistible charms.
However central, the love story is not fully fledged, and decidedly subordinate to the breathtaking images of war.
Much of the film consists of air battle scenes, plus a couple of maritime ones. Some of these are studio-made, some are on locations, and others are real WW2 archive footage. Malta Story succeeds at blending those almost seamless. The explosions around Mdina, Malta’s Medieval capital, are very impressive in their dimension. Peter is nearly killed in combat, as multiple enemy planes attack his Spitfire, in another remarkable moment. The population gets used to hiding in shelters as soon as the air raid siren in heard. Food becomes increasingly scarce, and families have to share a one-person meal amongst several members. A message of hope and solidarity prevails. Residents seek to support their fellow citizens by giving up their own food. They remain optimistic that their culture will survive yet another potential invasion: “Phoenicians, Turks, Greeks – all come n gone”. A touch of Christian faith also comes in handy.
This is a movie of mostly unidimensional characters. Melita is the biggest exception, and by far the movie’s most complex character. She is pragmatic, forward-thinking and sympathetic. Upon being asked for Maria’s hand, she tells Peter that her daughter can decide it herself “once the conflict is over”. She realises that the prospect of defeat is very real, and ponders the devastating repercussions of such outcome. She can even sort through the radio waves, discerning fact from fiction: “7,000 bombs is no propaganda”. All of that while committing to resistance for as long as she can.
The film sensibilities and requirements of the 1950s were very different to today’s. There is virtually no effort at all to portray Maltese language and culture. I do not remember hearing a single word in only Semitic language of the EU during the entire duration of the film. None of the leads were Maltese: Guinness, Pavlow, Robson and other were all British. Malta Story is an effective war movie, a propaganda film, a love letter to a colony, and a well-intentioned tribute to the resilience of a people. It’s just not very Maltese. It could well be called British Story instead.
Malta Story shows in the 3rd Mediterrane Film Festival, in Malta.
