Shining Through

Melanie Griffith plays Linda, a jewish American girl who volunteered to enter Nazi Germany as a spy. She tells her story in flashback, an old woman relating her adventures to a BBC documentary crew.

Griffith is improbable as the shrewd, resourceful, bilingual Linda. Her 'all-American girl' style of delivery is grating and inappropriate. Michael Douglas, as Ed Leland, makes a passable spy hero, but his character's unwillingness to learn the German language doesn't make any kind of sense, given that he spends most of his working life strutting around Berlin in a Nazi uniform. Sir John Gielgud plays 'Sunflower', 'our' agent in Berlin. Gielgud goes through the motions, as Gielgud usually does, without acting at all. Otto Dietrich, the high-ranking Nazi, is played fairly convincingly and with dignity by Liam Neeson. Joely Richardson is reasonable, even if her character (Margrete von Everstein) is a welter of ill-thought-out nonsense.

David Seltzer wrote and directed this rather lame thriller, and packed it with historical inaccuracies and implausible plot points. The teenage Linda is asked in the course of her job interview to stand and give a twirl, so that the men can get a look at her. She refuses on feminist grounds. This is simply unbelievable, and shows a complete lack of sympathy for the mores and attitudes of a historical period which doesn't happen to be the present day.

Cliche bogs this movie down and robs it of any sense of freshness or vitality that it might have had. For no very good reason, we get a sombre 'Pearl Harbor' moment, even though America's entry into the war is irrelevant to the plot. Espionage in Germany means that the German and spy-movie stereotypes have to be trotted out, so apfel strudel, schnapps and the microfilming of secret documents all find their way into the story. Nazi border guards just have to have slavering alsatian dogs.

Part of the film's problem is a clumsy script which contains some horribly clunking lines. Such mouthfuls as, "What 's a war for, if not to hold onto what we love?" grate on the ear. The German security forces are referred to in heavy-handed purple prose as "Hitler's dreaded stormtroopers".

Continuing the run of blatant improbabilities, Sunflower and Linda board a German train and immediately start discussing Drescher in English - two mind-boggling lapses in security. And would Sunflower use the polite 'ihre' form when addressing a working-class girl?

In order to give the plot some dramatic contours, events are introduced which could never have happened in real life. The film sacrifices credibility for the sake of a cheap shot.

The finale at the border crossing is too silly to merit criticism.

I know this movie got bad reviews, so I did not know what to expect when I saw it. When it was over I thought it was one of the best films I had ever seen. It just goes to show never trust movie critics. All the movies the critics(most of the films) put down always turn out to be the best ones.

Though I never read the book, personally I feel that this is an overly criticized and highly under rated movie. It's been awhile since I saw it so forget all the plot intricacies, but do recall enjoying this wartime romance at the time. As others have noted, it is definitely more a love story than a spy thriller. Also, I was sufficiently impressed with the performances by all three leads but especially Liam Leeson.

The plot revolves around an American spy master, Ed Leland, who reluctantly sends his secretary, Linda Voss, on a dangerous mission to Berlin, refusing to admit to himself that he has feelings for her personally. Voss is sent to spy on a high level German army officer named Dietrich, being deemed suitable for the task because she speaks fluent German. This secretary is half Jewish herself, and part of her motivation is actually to find some of her relatives who are in hiding. She thus goes undercover into Nazi Germany as a secretary turned spy, with little training in survival or espionage. However, she is a great fan of old spy movies and has gleaned a few tips! Perhaps the plot is not that plausible, but the same charge could be laid against any number of other movies. This is mainly a romance and a highly entertaining one.

Melanie Griffith is charming here in the role of Linda Voss. She is not a dumb blonde bimbo, nor does she even appear to be. Quite the contrary. Some have complained about her German, but I was interested in the story, and no expert on her accent. Michael Douglas competently portrays the American spy, Leland. Whether or not it is believable that someone in his position cannot speak a word of German, he has a very credible chemistry with Griffith. Liam Neeson is especially excellent, playing with dignity and charisma the complex role of the sensitive but potentially ruthless Nazi officer and devoted family man. Sir John Gielgud, the ultimate professional, is masterful as always and commands any scene in which he appears.

I confess that I'm a sucker for wartime romances, love the drama of that era as well as the 1940's styles, so would lap up just about any representative of the genre. While this one may not be a classic, it is a good love story with some gripping action, tension, and suspense. As another also noted, though it may indeed be highly improbable, it is nevertheless highly watchable.

I saw this movie on BRAVO and absolutely loved it. So what if it is unrealistic? It is a movie, after all. If you want reality, rent a documentary or watch the History Channel. It reminds me of an old black and white film from the 40's like "Notorious", "Saboteur", or something of that nature.(Probably one of the reasons I liked it so much.)The suspense was wonderful, as was the romance between Linda and Ed. My eyes were glued to the television from beginning to end, and it left me in a happy state of shock. Even reading the book--which was quite different--didn't change my mind about loving the movie. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a two hour escape from the real world... especially someone looking for a good romance. I still get palpitations thinking about the closing scene. Sigh.

This will be a short review. I have seen a lot of pro and con on this movie, but almost all of the con's talk of the unbelievable plot. I will give you that the plot has some problems, and if this was a serious spy movie, then I'd be there with you, but that is not what this film is. This film is a total romance with some action thrown in. If you watch it and see how two people will risk all they have for each other because they are in love then you will enjoy this film. Sure there are holes in the plot...but not in the romance. Melanie is very likable in this movie and I think there is great chemistry! If you don't scrutinize the plot so much you may even find yourself routing for them as they cross the Swiss border.