157: Fires Were Started

UK  65m  Dir: Humphrey Jennings

Original Screenplay

Fires Were Started is a fascinating snapshot of a moment in time, with London's firefighters struggling through the Blitz. 

It's tricky to define what exactly this film is. It's scripted but no sets were built and no actors were hired- everyone shown here were real firefighters and staff of the fire service. It definitely looks and feels like a documentary but then again it's all reconstructed with a script and something of a plot too. Presumably it would have been impossible to actually film the firefighters in action but this approach does mean it's difficult to assess the authenticity and there's an unavoidable sense of staging to events. 

Even now firefighters are heroic but this film shows a time when they had far more limited resources and were needed more than ever due to the Blitz. They ascend terrifying looking ladders, make their way through flaming buildings and attempt to fight fires whilst bombs are dropping nearby. It might be staged but that means there's relative safety here, suggesting actual firefighting is even more extreme. 

I love the little details here. A local man turns up and asks what he can to help. The firefighters sing "One Man Went to Mow" as they prepare for their shift. I also loved the control room and it's notable how professional it is, working pretty much the same way as it does now albeit without computers to help keep track of things. There's a superb moment when a bomb damages part of the wall of one of the control rooms and the two operators dive under their desks for safety. When the dust clear one calmly re-appears to continue her job, apologising to the person on the other end of the line for the interruption! 

I think this film is fascinating as a historical artefact more than as a film. It's great to see ordinary people doing their jobs during the darkest of times. We're often reminded of the stoic nature of Londoners during the Blitz but I don't think I've seen it portrayed as effectively as here. 

It doesn't entirely work as a film due to it not knowing whether it wants to be a drama or a documentary but it works as a time capsule to a specific moment in time really well.