Les femmes de l'ombre

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".

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!

Even though a little bit melodramatic in spots, it is well directed and incredibly well acted. Likeable and relatable characters make this an experience well worth it. Will recommend

Female Agents is one of the very few war films that concentrates on women as soldiers rather than wives waiting for returning men.

Based around the SOE operations towards the end of WWII this is a very well-made and well thought out offering.

Very well shot and lit, with good detailing in both set and costume, this is really a character piece as well as an action film; Sofie Marceau shines as the level-headed leader determined to carry out her mission and the rest of the cast are up to her standard.

It doesn't have a Hallmark moment in it, but chooses bleakness and some harrowing (But not horrific) scenes that mean it remains a good tense war film.

Recommended.

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.