One more look back to the past for director John Boorman

He’s loath to admit it, but John Boorman’s new film may be his last, writes Don O’Mahony.

YOU could blame it on Ken Loach. His pre Cannes announcement that Jimmy’s Hall would be his last, set the tone, so that when the 81-year-old John Boorman came to take his turn on the Croisette as part of the Director’s Fortnight strand, the valedictory mood had been established.

Boorman is a two-time best director award winner at the festival, first in 1970 with Leo The Last and again in 1998 with The General. And the wistful nature of his latest film Queen and Country, set nine years on from his World War II childhood memoir Hope and Glory, allied to his declaration that this may be his very last film, added to the feeling of nostalgia.