Mrs. Miniver

Rating: 4.85/5

Mrs. Miniver has been one of the most wonderful surprises throughout this Oscar journey. I know I've said that before, but prior to this film, it mostly pertained to movies that I was aware of, but just wasn't a huge fan of the genre. For Mrs.Miniver, other than the title and lead actress, I was completely unfamiliar with it. I went into it not knowing what it was about or what to expect, and found myself completely infatuated and enthralled by it.

Mrs.Miniver is another addition to the 1940s World War II films, but it doesn't disappear into the archives of the countless movies that came out during that decade that dealt with the topic of the war. The story itself isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's lead performance and cinematography are what makes it stand out from the crowd.

Before watching Mrs.Miniver, I had only seen Greer Garson in one film, a lesser known Joan Crawford vehicle, and she was great in that, but it was in this film where I truly got to see why she was considered such a highly revered actress of her time. Her character's family is dealing with the perils of war, worried at every moment that their home may be demolished by the bombs that are raining down from the sky. Mrs.Miniver has to remain unwaveringly strong for her family, even though you can see that she herself is terrified of what's to come. There's a scene in particular where her resilience and courage are put to the test, and Garson shows the myriad of emotions that are going through her character's mind, but it's incredibly clear that Miniver will be able to handle anything she's suddenly having to endure.

Mrs. Miniver is primarily famous for Garson's performance, and as I just spent an entire paragraph gushing about it, I shall refrain from continuing on. Though Garson's portrayal of Miniver is the clear highlight of the film, there's also some very impressive cinematography as well. In particular, there's a sequence where a fleet of boats begin their long journey to Dunkirk. It's a short scene, but one that's left an indelible mark on my memory.

When I started watching Mrs.Miniver, I had a bunch of thank you notes that I had to write and had a deadline in which I had to get them done. I thought I'd be able to multitask and do both. Well, that didn't happen. Needless to say, within ten minutes of the movie beginning, I found my hand frozen in mid air, pen still gripped between my fingers, and my letters of thank you completely forgotten. Mrs.Miniver was just too great for me to pull my attention away from it.

1943 Best Picture Winner- Mrs. Miniver

1943 Best Actress in a Leading Role Winner-Greer Garson

1943 Best Actress in a Supporting Role Winner- Teresa Wright

1943 Best Director- William Wyler

1943 Best Writing, Screenplay-George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West, & Arthur Wimperis

1943 Best Cinematography, Black & White- Joseph Ruttenberg