Female Agents (2008)

London, 1944: SOE's section for French ops parachute 4 women into France, plus a woman there, to free an English geologist and kill SS colonel Heindrich.

Director:

Jean-Paul Salomé

Writers:

Jean-Paul Salomé, Laurent Vachaud

Stars:

Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Moritz Bleibtreu

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sophie Marceau	...	Louise Desfontaines
Julie Depardieu	...	Jeanne Faussier
Marie Gillain	...	Suzy Desprez
Déborah François	...	Gaëlle Lemenech (as Deborah François)
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Karl Heindrich
Maya Sansa	...	Maria Luzzato
Julien Boisselier	...	Pierre Desfontaines
Vincent Rottiers	...	Eddy
Volker Bruch	...	Lieutenant Becker
Robin Renucci	...	Melchior
Xavier Beauvois	...	Claude Granville
Colin David Reese	...	Maurice Buckmaster (as Colin-David Reese)
Jurgen Mash	...	Gerd Von Rundstedt
Conrad Cecil	...	Le Géologue anglais
Alexandre Jazede	...	René Bourienne

Storyline

In 1944, in London, Lieutenant Pierre Desfontaines assigns his sister Louise Desfontaines to convince three other women to form a five-woman task force under his command to rescue a British geologist from a German hospital in the countryside. The geologist was assigned by Colonel Maurice Buckmaster in a reconnaissance mission of the soil of the beaches at Normandy for the D-Day and had been captured by the Germans. Louise and Pierre force the prostitute Jeanne Faussier that is imprisoned for murdering her pimp; the explosives expert Gaëlle Lemenech that misses action; and the former dancer and fiancé of Colonel Karl Heindrich, Suzy Desprez, using blackmail and unethical methods to fly to France and join the Italian agent Maria Luzzato in the assignment. They are well-succeeded but when they deliver the geologist to the British aeroplane, Pierre betrays the group. He forces the women to travel to Paris to kill Colonel Heindrich who suspects that the landing of the allied forces will be...

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Plot Keywords:

year 1945 | year 1944 | 1940s | woman wears a gas mask | murderess | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a negative review for French newspaper Le Monde, Jean-Luc Douin noted strong similarities with the Ken Follett novel Jackdaws.

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Goofs

The scene in Holloway prison where the murderess is recruited to the mission, shows her looking out onto a courtyard were a scaffold is erected. Hangings in Britain by this time were conducted indoors in a room adjacent to the condemned cell. Prisoners were not aware of where the gallows was in order to spare them anxiety.

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Soundtracks

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Music by Manning Sherwin
Lyrics by Eric Maschwitz
Performed by Vera Lynn

User Reviews

A must see movie for so many reasons.

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United Kingdom] TFM Distribution [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French German English

Release Date:

5 March 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Female Agents

Filming Locations:

Dépot AJECTA, Longueville, Seine-et-Marne, France

Box Office

Budget:

EUR17,123,930 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,274,983

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Chauves-Souris, Banque Populaire Images 7, Banque Populaire Images 8

Technical Specs

Runtime:

148 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1