Female Agents - Geheimkommando Phoenix

I saw this film at this years Seattle International Film Festival, and other than the bizarre choice of "Female Agents" as the English title, I loved it. I think a more direct translation of the title as "Women of the Shadows" or some such would have been much more evocative.

The film itself is a gritty WWII espionage drama in the classic mold, with the team of misfits being assembled to do the job that only they can do. Only in this case, they are women. The film does not shrink from the grittiness and danger of the mission, especially when it extends to several gutwrenching interrogation scenes. There is no chivalry in this war. Moritz Bleibtreu is especially effective as an SS Colonel who believes himself to be a decent man, doing only what he must, yet in reality committing atrocity after atrocity.

Special effects are well used to give us occupied Paris in great detail, and the whole look of the film is quite stylish. A recommended film!

1944. An undercover agent working for the Allies, holding vital information about the future D-Day landings, is trapped in a French hospital, behind enemy lines. The agent is potentially only hours away from being discovered by the SS, and so the British Strategic Operations Executive put together a team of French speaking agents rescue him. Except for the commanding officer, the team are all women...

Oh, yes. That sounded like just the ticket. Definitely a bit of a romp. Something along the lines of a 1940's set "Mission: Impossible". Stunts, action sequences, beautiful women with serious weaponry using their womanly wiles to run rings around evil, horny Nazis.

Forget it. "Les Femmes de l'ombre" was not that film. The girls were beautiful, there was some de rigeur European nudity and also plenty of firepower and action, but "Les Femmes de l'ombre" was a much more real, bleak and thoughtful film than I expected. Bloody, nasty and sadistic, not to mention dangerous with some toe curling scenes of torture. Mix in with that meditations on fear, betrayal and ultimate self sacrifice.

Perhaps "Les Femmes de l'ombre" was uneven, but it was also a really interesting take on that old chestnut: The war movie about a team sent behind enemy lines on a vital mission. I doubt that Tarantino will make a more memorable film when and if he finally finishes "Inglorious Bastards".

There are many positive things about this film that for me anyway make any negatives irrelevant. I know it isn't 100% accurate but the acting of all the cast is quite superb in my opinion.

Sophie Marceau as Louise stands out in this film, her acting is superb and although she is clearly a beautiful woman she does not seem to mind looking less than glamorous throughout. Her range or emotion was truly gripping. Julien Boisselier as her brother Pierre is a tortured soul who has a coldness about him that was probably necessary to carry out the tasks they had to. Julie Depardieu as Jeanne, Maya Sansa as Maria,are all good as is the stunning Marie Gillain, but Déborah François as Gaëlle,did an amazing job showing her characters naiveté and youth and some really strong and convincing emotions especially when captured. Colonel Heindrich is played by Moritz Bleibtreu who has had some criticism on here but in my opinion he carried it off perfectly. Many SS were ruthless and clinical and yet at the same time gentlemen and family men. A lot of this film is unrealistic and no doubt done for dramatic effect but the more you watch the more you get drawn in. I would highly recommend this film and would watch it again I am sure.

I started watching this movie rather sceptical, because I was expecting a french patriotism flick, since french history usually gives you the impression that the whole of France was in "La Resistance". But I have to say, that I was surprised about the interpretation of occupied France. The story is well written, the actors fit the roles mostly (I love Moritz Bleibtreu but an SS officer doesn't really suit him in my opinion) and they do a good job. Overall a good thriller set in the Third Reich. The true core of the story is of course really small. The events presented in the movie didn't take place. But its good entertainment.

Whereas a lot of films and television over the years has made war seem a very one-sided affair and concentrated on things from a very male point of view, very few have dealt with the roles that women had played. Set during world war II Female Agents tell of one such group of agents on a mission for the British government behind enemy lines in France in 1944. The mission, to rescue a British geologist who was caught on the beaches of Normandy, the information he has is crucial to the success of the D-day landings. Also there is an SS colonel who is intent on cracking the geologists riddle and thwarting the allied attacks who must be killed no matter what the cost. Assembling the group a brother and sister team chose girls because of their backgrounds and skills and after a one day refresher course in field skills they are off. From this point on the film thanks to the story (based in truth) the acting (universally brilliant) and the cinematography (breathtaking) grips like a vice and doesn't let up until the credits roll. Challenging and at times brutal it shows in very real terms what people went through and what they sacrificed to bring down the evil Nazi regime. It shows us a time that although we don't want to remember we should never forget and this film is a fine example of the heroic work done by individuals that eventually secured our freedom as a whole. A must see movie for so many reasons.