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Charlotte's boyfriend Peter Gregory (Rupert Penry-Jones)
is an RAF pilot who is one day shot down over France. She
then decides to parachute into Vichy France - the large part
of France as yet unoccupied by the Nazis - to try to find
him.
As Dominique Ober she is met by her local SOE contact, the
mysterious Mirabel (Ron Cook) and the cute-but-intense resistance
leader Julien Levade (Billy Crudup).
He and his local team are communists who may or may not be
the types of people the British want to deal with.
When her initial meeting with a French woman goes disastrously
wrong, she is employed by Julien's father Levade (Michael
Gambon) in his well-worn chateau.
From there things hot up as in order to garrison the French
coast the Germans occupy Vichy France and instead of slightly
malleable authorities to oppose, the resistance - and Charlotte
- comes up against dyed-in-the-wool hardmen.
While there is action in the movie, it is more a journey
of self-discovery with romance and history thrown in for good
measure. It is deliberately paced and, it has to be said,
exquisitely photographed.
The video transfer is superb and the sound also warrants
the thumbs-up. Colour richness, detail, sharpness are all
here - and so are Blanchett's startlingly blue eyes.
Damn that lady can act - as can the entire cast. Crudup puts
in another excellent showing while special mention has to
go to Michael Gambon who is utterly believable as the old
man. Special boos must go to Anton Lesser who plays the smarmily
treacherous teacher Benech.
I reckon this movie has copped a lot of unfair criticism
over recent months and, for the life of me, I can't see why.
It is a melodrama, set in wartime, but it isn't over-sentimental
or sooky. I found it a thoroughly entertaining night in front
of the screen.
Conclusion: Movie 85% Extras: 65%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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