Films about WW2 suitable for 10/11yo DC?

[Wigeon]

DD’s topic in Y6 is World War Two - thinking it might be good to watch a suitable film, but everything I can think of is not apppropriate - too upsetting and for an older audience (Schindler’s List, Boy in the Striped Pyjamas etc).

Is the film of Goodnight Mr Tom too sad (I found the book really sad)? Any other ideas?

DS is 11yo. He's loved
Sink the Bismarck
The Great Escape
Dambusters
Battle of Britain
The Longest Day

But what he really liked when a bit younger was the History Channel's documentaries.

We ve just watched Boy in the striped pyjamas with my yr6 ds. Yes it was sad but I’m not sure how else you can engage feelings and understand the horrors of war without watching something a bit hard hitting?
There are lots of documentaries if that’s more suitable.

Good night Mr Tom doesn't have huge amounts of actual war stuff, the start and some of the London scenes. But it's mainly about heir relationship. It is a wonderful book and film, but the child abuse section is harrowing.

Older films from the 70s etc are better as the guidelines were much stricter. I agree things like great escape etc would be a good place to start.

• Carrie's War is available on DVD, www.amazon.co.uk/Carries-War-DVD-Keeley-Fawcett/dp/B0000Z0I2U?tag=mumsnetforum-21 - I haven't seen it though so can't vouch for how good it is. We had the book read to us at school at around that age.
• Hope and Glory is also still available though I can't remember if there are any scenes unsuitable for children
• A Royal Night Out
• The King's Speech
• The Sound of Music
• South Pacific
• Grave of the Fireflies is a film that looks at the war in Japan - it is very sad though
• Sarah's Key - set in Paris; again, some very sad aspects and a lot of the film is in French
• Memphis Belle (though might be a bit too American, depending on what they're studying)
• The Book Thief

Others that might be a bit dated now and might or might not be suitable (with the usual caveat about, "may contain scenes unsuitable for children"):

• Pimpernel Smith
• Mrs Miniver
• To Carve Her Name with Pride (you will need hankies)
• The Dam Busters
• The Cockleshell Heroes
• The Colditz Story
• The Land Girls
• Diary of Anne Frank

There are several that have scenes set in WWII (The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, for instance); agree about Goodnight Mr Tom and the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas being very, very sad. There actually seem to be relatively few films that are suitable for children set in this time period! If you're happy to extend it to BBC programmes there was a recent reality TV series that looked at special forces recruitment and training in Scotland which I think might still be on iplayer somewhere and Further Back in Time for Dinner. And there's always Dad's Army, Goodbye Sweetheart or some episodes of Allo Allo...(ducks under parapet again).

On a slight tangent, if there are any steam railways or re-enactment societies that do 1940s weekends that might appeal - a friend and former colleague went to one recently and got to experience an air raid, ride on a steam train, and meet Winston Churchill amongst other lookalikes. It sounded like a fab day out.

Thank you for suggestions! I haven’t seen most of these, including the Great Escape, which I feel I ought to see at least once in my life. Agree it’s hard to make a film about a world war without that being upsetting...

Not a film, but we love the series Goodnight Sweetheart & I can't think of anything in that unsuitable for that age group (Ds1 is nearly 10 & I wouldn't mind him watching it).

Escape to Victory but only if he likes football!

A Bridge Too Far
The Longest Day
The Great Escape
Empire of the Sun
Dunkirk
The Dirty Dozen
Kelly's Heroes
Von Ryan's Express

Thanks for further suggestions!

The Sea Shall Not Have Them (available on YouTube).

Basically any black & white British 1950s WW2 film is suitable IMHO.

Def battle of britain

Darkest Hour. My DS 10 loved it.

Ethel and Ernest is brilliant!

Hope and Glory is a bit rude & a bit sweary for Y6. Dawn shagging the Canadian airman, Roman shouting the F bomb, girl on the bomb site charging the boys to see what's in her knickers etc.

My Dc really liked the recent BBC series about the Special Operations Executive (SOE) called Secret Agent Selection. It's on iPlayer. It's a nice mix of taking modern day would be recruits through the training programme and historical fact about the SOE.

Some of the older films mentioned are great and I would add Carve Her Name with Pride to the list.

The Bletchley Park code breakers were a source of fascination for my DS. The films Enigma and the Imitation Game are both good.

Valiant-animation with Ewan McGregor. From a pigeons perspective?!

I work in yr6 and we show the kids Goodnight Mr Tom and Carrie’s War.

I agree with pp, loads of 1950/60s British films would be suitable
My personal favourites are:

Heroes of Telemark
The Wooden Horse
Reach for the Sky
The one that got away

Tora Tora Tora is a bit later, but I would have thought it was suitable too.

The sound of music ! Mostly uplifting with a touch of natzi input nearer the end. I think it summed up the lengths they'd go to recruit/ corrupt people and there are subtle hints throughout.

NOT "the pianist"

Excellent film but I still have horrid flash backs from when I watched it aged 16.

War horse
Goodnight mister Tom

Some great ideas, thanks again.

MrsCholly - the SOE documentary sounds ideal - DD has always been into the idea of spying, codes, detectives etc, sounds really good.

Love the Bletchley Park films although can’t remember if they’d definitely be suitable for a 10yo? We actually don’t live too far from Bletchley Park and I took DD a couple of years ago, was brilliant and fascinating.

The First of the Few is my favourite. Followed by the Dambusters.

Stalag Luft is a comedy set in a POW camp. Not harrowing.

Life is Beautiful is a lovely film, set in a concentration camp. It’s a PG but you’ll need tissues at the end. It’s laugh out loud funny in parts but there's no escaping the situation. You'd maybe want to watch it yourself first but I do highly recommend it.