I came across this movie by a friends suggestion on one of the History forums I frequent and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. My Boy Jack (based on the Kipling Poem by the same name) tells the story of Rudyard Kipling and his son Jack, who at the beginning of WWI in England in 1914 are faced with the dilemma of Jack not being able to join the military due to his severe myopia. We see Jack go through no less than two physicals, one with the Navy and the other the Army and get rejected both times due to the need for his spectacles to see a mere 10 feet. For those of you familiar with WWI history, you know that for a fighting age male not to enlist in the military during this time was seen as nothing short of pure cowardice, not to mention the terrible shame that the family would have to endure for years, even decades to come. Ultimately, Rudyard Kipling uses his connections and influence to get Jack a commission in the Irish Guards and that is where the story really takes off. The ending is sad, but not uncommon for tens of thousands of families in England, France and America during World War One.. The last scene of the film is very touching and holds a lot of meaning. As Kipling visits King George V, The King of England, the King recounts how his youngest son recently died of a epileptic fit. Kipling attempts to comfort the King, despite his own terrible grief, by reciting the Poem he wrote in honor of Jack:
| “Have you news of my boy Jack?” Not this tide. “When d’you think that he’ll come back?” Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.“Has any one else had word of him?” Not this tide. For what is sunk will hardly swim, Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?” None this tide, Nor any tide, Except he did not shame his kind — Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.Then hold your head up all the more, This tide, And every tide; Because he was the son you bore, And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!
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