Sunday 27 November 2022

Les Femmes de L'Ombre (2008 Jean-Paul Salomé & co-scr)

The writer was inspired by an obituary of Lise de Baissac, who was operational with her brother in the SOE around the time of D-Day - why then not make a film about her real-life exploits rather than imagine this wholly fictitious story about protecting the secrets of the D-Day invasion involving a captured British geologist? It at least honours their spirit, I suppose, and the film is reasonably engaging.

Where do we know Sophie Marceau from? The World Is Not Enough? She leads the good cast, with Julie Depardieu (A Very Long Engagement), Marie Gillain, Déborah François, Moritz Bleibtreu (good as Nazi), Maya Sansa, Julien Boisselier, Vincent Rottiers, Volker Bruch.

DP Pascal Risao, editor Marie-Pierre Renaud, prod des Francoise Dupertuis, costumes Pierre-John Larroque (its only César nomination).

The film is rather unimaginatively titled Female Agents in UK. The original invokes Jean-Pierre Melville's brilliant resistance film. It was actually filmed in Paris.

I've got to say the nudity is entirely gratuitous, particularly of the suicide. You wouldn't have got that with a female director, somehow. Doesn't however soft soap the fates of the agents, which is laudable.





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