The Last Rifleman - AD Introduction

The Last Rifleman is a Sky Original movie, inspired by true events and starring Pierce Brosnan.

Brosnan plays Artie Crawford, a veteran of the British Army’s Royal Ulster Rifles, who sets out on a journey to France, determined to mark the 75^th anniversary of D-Day by visiting the place where his battalion fought and many of his comrades were lost.

Artie is 92 and three quarters. Originally hailing from East Belfast, he now lives at a Nursing Home somewhere in the Irish countryside. While the staff deem him too frail to travel on account of his numerous health conditions, he’s mentally sharp and physically independent when aided by a walking stick. He has bright white hair which he wears neatly combed back, revealing tufty grey eyebrows and a freckled face. At the nursing home, he dresses presentably in chinos, check shirts and cardigans. On his travels, he’s more formal in a dark suit and tie, with his military medals proudly pinned to his chest.

Two of Artie’s childhood friends, Maggie and Charlie, also feature. In a series of flashbacks at a beach, the teenage Maggie wears a radiant smile, waves of chestnut brown hair tumbling over the shoulders of a sweet tea dress that brings out her blue eyes. We soon learn that Maggie went on to marry Artie, and now lives in the same nursing home, needing round-the-clock care, having been robbed of her health by advanced dementia. They have separate rooms, and Maggie never joins Artie in the home’s communal breakfast area, but he visits her every day, patiently helping her to eat, or simply sitting with her while she sleeps.   

Charlie is seen in the beach flashbacks, and also in a series of scenes from the Normandy battlefield where, aged 18, he and Artie were deployed to fight with their military unit. Charlie has pale features and dark blonde hair with a centre parting. At the beach he wears a smart blazer and a bursting, youthful smile, but the battlefield seems to age him; his square-jawed face hanging heavily beneath a tin hat. The young Artie is baby-faced in comparison - skinny with dark hair, piercing blue eyes and the red pimples of adolescence still dotting his white cheeks. Charlie, Artie, and their wartime comrades wear matching uniforms – heavy jackets and trousers in khaki green with pouches and rifles slung over the top.  Their shoulders are marked with a black and red triangle logo, signifying their army division.

Returning to the present day, Artie’s adventure begins at Lough Valley nursing home. The building’s sharp-tongued receptionist, Tracey, has a round face framed by peroxide blonde waves. She’s loyal to the home’s manager, Mrs Tetry, who wears her dark hair pulled back into a low bun.  Another of the home’s elderly residents, Tom, takes a keen interest in everyone else’s business. He’s white, with a white moustache and a pair of spectacles that hang on a cord around his neck when he’s not using them to examine the contents of a newspaper or an old photograph.

On his journey to Normandy, Artie encounters various strangers with whom he strikes up relationships. Rory, a young music-loving traveller and Tony McCann, a journalist, are both Irish with fair skin, blue eyes, brown hair and stubble. Tony, who works for the Irish Journal newspaper, has rosy cheeks and a hint of ginger in his beard. 

Juliette is a mother-of-two who’s bilingual in French and English. She’s travelling with her children, Sophie, who’s about thirteen, and Jacques, who’s a few years younger, returning from a holiday with their caravan in tow.  Juliette, played by Clemence Poesy, is blond with delicate features and a warm smile. She has an earthy dress sense, wearing a chunky cardigan with jeans or dungarees.

Finally, Artie meets a number of other veterans, including Frederick Muller – a white-haired German with broad shoulders and bulbous features – and Lincoln Jefferson Adams, a black man with a salt-and-pepper beard who wears a service medal from his time in the US artillery on the breast of a modern bomber jacket.

The film’s main locations include:

The Lough Valley nursing home, a historic pale brick building set inside rustic walls. At the front, an ancient tree with a huge trunk creates a canopy of leaves over four wooden benches. The inside of the home appears clean and pleasant, with large bedrooms, high ceilings and a sunny breakfast area. 

Saint-Côme-du-Mont, a town in Northern France, is home to a tourist attraction called the D-Day Experience. Bustling with visitors, the historic centre hosts market stalls selling World War II-themed paraphernalia from fridge magnets to fancy dress.

Cambes-en-Plaine is another small historic settlement, close to where the young Artie was engaged in battle. While it also has a tourist office, the streets here are quiet and calm. Narrow lanes are flanked by wonky stone walls and pale-rendered facades with wooden shutters.

As he undertakes his journey, Artie passes through the green patchwork of the Irish countryside, and the low-lying fields of Normandy, where sunflowers are blooming in the early summer sun. 

The Last Rifleman is showing on Sky Cinema Premiere from 5^th November 2023, with audio description by Jenni Elbourne.