Amor em Chamas

The story. The acting. The romanticism in the war time. And the sacrifice. Pillars of a classic about choices, friendship, honor, love and importance of meetings. Theoretical, a war film. In essence, only romance using the war as clothes. Its seduction force - to remind old things who define an universe of world out ordinary rules. Its virtue - to mix in coherent manner different stories who becomes one with many sides. A beautiful film for the admirable performances. And for the art of detail. For a form of heroism who remains noble and impressive and touching, remembering the Medieval stories. And for the atmosphere who defines in brilliant manner the drama of the lead characters. It could be discovered as classic romance or as war story. In essence, it is an admirable story about values.

While this movie is not the old fashioned wartime classic I had anticipated, it is certainly highly watchable. This is definitely more a romance than a war movie or suspense thriller. It's been awhile since I've seen it so forget all the plot intricacies, but enjoyed the film at the time for two reasons. First, the incredible cast and second, the World War II backdrop with all the drama of wartime and the hair, clothing, & automobile styles. For me, the movie is noteworthy for the dynamics between the sophisticated, steady husband and the virile, charismatic lover. Also its memorable ending, which I loved.

The movie portrays the story of Margaret Sellinger, a British nurse, and David Halloran, an American pilot (stationed in England) who meet in London during an air raid and fall in love. David doesn't realize that Margaret is married until he is assigned to transport a British secret agent into France and learns that this agent is none other than Margaret's husband. Of course this situation may be something of a coincidence, but it does make for a good story.

The three stars cast as the parties in this love triangle are all favourites of mine. The dashing and magnetic Harrison Ford plays the lover, David. That consummate gentleman, Christopher Plummer, is cast as the older, dependable, and consistent husband, Paul Sellinger. The lovely Leslie-Anne Down (of Upstairs, Downstairs fame) portrays Paul's wife, Margaret, the woman caught between these two very compelling men. Frankly, if I had to choose myself between Harrison Ford and Christopher Plummer, I'd be hard pressed to decide...though Plummer would have been quite captivating enough for me in the first place!

The movie doesn't delve much into the marital problems, other than that the husband, Paul, doesn't feel he is exciting enough for his wife. The film therefore provides no reason why we shouldn't favour the husband and view him as the injured victim of the piece. Not a whole lot of sympathy on my part for the bored Margaret, wartime or not and despite Harrison Ford's obvious appeal. Unfortunately, not much detail is shown developing Margaret and David's relationship, other than some emotional bonding as a result of shared danger during a V2 rocket bombing. Then before you know it, they're having an affair. Perhaps this contributes to my lack of interest in their romance. Frankly, my heart does not bleed for Margaret, much as I adore the actress portraying her. It was very unfair of her not warning David straight away that she's a married lady with a daughter, thus I had more compassion for her misled lover.

Later in the film the husband and lover are placed in a dangerous situation where they must cope with enemy action and rely upon each other. Naturally this makes for some 'interesting' scenes, quite touchingly done, as they must work together to survive. They're both fantastic here, the macho younger Ford and the seasoned older Plummer. Their scenes are infinitely more compelling than those between the lovers in a relationship not very well drawn. No spoilers as to which gentleman prevails in the end. Do both or either of the two even survive the perils involved? Suffice it to say, the ending was unforgettable for me personally.

With these actors and this setting, it might have been a great movie if they'd only imparted a little more depth and vulnerability to Margaret, some relationship development and genuine chemistry to her affair with David, and a bit more understanding as to why she succumbed to temptation in the first place. However, in truth, I confess that I'm a real sucker for a wartime romance and would lap up just about any representative of the genre, especially one with this particular cast.

First of all Harrison Ford can do no wrong. Please understand that. With that said, read on: This film was directed and shot in such a way that I felt that I was watching a film school final shot by a mediocre student. The dialogue is Spam-stale and the chemistry between Harrison and Lesley-Ann Down is zilch. The first love scene is so poorly shot and edited, my dog could have done a better job in his sleep. Most of the time, you feel that most of the cast is reading cue cards; it's that stiff. The timeline is goofy and the movie jumps around and is pretty unbelievable. Harrison was trying desperately to stretch his acting wings at this point in his career, but the material and dialogue were so limited, you really feel for the actor. But, damn, he's so charming, sexy and likable, it's worth the headache to sit through this abomination just to enjoy Harrison being Harrison.

While the story is set in the context of world war 2, what it's really about is the difference between men who are now called 'alpha' and 'beta.' One is a brash, self-confident, risk-taking narcissist; the other is a high-achieving, highly educated, planner. Women often wish to marry the latter, and make love with the former. Ms. Down faces this issue.

Overall, an excellent discussion, and depiction, of this particular kind of dilemma.

The movie begins in London, with the American pilot (alpha) and the British nurse conning each other, trying to fake each other out for a place on a bus. This game is interrupted by v-2 rocket bombing, and a real, and intense, emotional bonding. Much later, the nurse's husband (beta) is introduced, and we discover he is a high-ranking official with the British military. The story develops from there, with a somewhat improbable pairing, and a spy mission. It is suspenseful, but is really a romantic drama.

One of my female friends once told she hated "Memphis Belle but she liked this film. It is not hard to see why. It is more of a Barbara Cartland style romance than an action adventure movie.

One interesting point is that former RAF /USAAF airfield at Bovingdon was used for filming. It was previously used as the location for a number of air movies such as "633 Squadron","Mosquito Squadron" and "The War Lover". By the time "Hanover Street" started filming in 1978 it was disused and derelict so the aircraft were only filmed with very long lenses to avoid showing the background clearly.

The film suffers from too many historical and technical errors to be taken seriously by WW2 buffs. For example there is a discussion about "light " and "heavy flak" which makes it clear that writer/director Peter Hyams thinks these terms refer to the number of guns employed whereas in fact they refer to the calibre of the weapons. For example a target defended by 100 x 20 mm guns is defended by "light" flak while a target defended by a single 88mm gun is defended by "heavy" flak.

There is also a scene where the two heroes are pursued by a Hetzer tank destroyer,a vehicle whose only role is the destruction of enemy armour and would be singularly unsuited to the task of pursuing enemy agents.

On the credit side John Barry delivers his usual excellent score.