Female Agents

Female Agents
Female Agents
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jean-Paul Salomé
Written by	Laurent Vachaud; Jean-Paul Salomé
Produced by	Éric Névé
Starring	Sophie Marceau; Julie Depardieu; Marie Gillain; Déborah François; Moritz Bleibtreu;
Cinematography	Pascal Ridao
Edited by	Marie-Pierre Renaud
Music by	Bruno Coulais
Distributed by	TFM Distribution
Release dates	5 March 2008 (France); 27 June 2008 (UK);
Running time	112 minutes
Country	France
Languages	French; German; English
Budget	$19.6 million
Box office	$9.3 million

Female Agents (French: Les Femmes de l'ombre) is a 2008 French historical drama film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé and starring Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Marie Gillain, Déborah François, and Moritz Bleibtreu.^[3] Written by Salomé and Laurent Vachaud, the film is about female resistance fighters in the Second World War. Jean-Paul Salomé, the director, drew inspiration from an obituary in The Times newspaper^[4] of Lise de Baissac (Lise Villameur), from Mauritius (then a British colony), one of the heroines of the SOE, named "Louise Desfontaines" in the film and played by Sophie Marceau. The film was partly funded by BBC Films.

Plot

In May 1944 Louise Desfontaines (Sophie Marceau), a member of the French Resistance, flees to Spain after her husband is killed, where she is captured and later expatriated to London. She is recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the secret spy and sabotage service initiated by Winston Churchill. Louise is given an urgent first mission: to extricate a British agent (Conrad Cecil) who has fallen into German hands while preparing the invasion of Normandy. The agent has not yet revealed anything but time is pressing.

Louise must first create a commando group of women especially chosen for the needs of the operation. When it comes to recruitment, anything goes: lies, blackmail, bribery (through the offer of remission of a death sentence) and calls to carry out patriotic duty. She first employs Suzy Desprez (Marie Gillain), a cabaret dancer who excels in the art of seducing men. Then she brings in Gaëlle Lemenech (Déborah François), a chemist and explosives expert. Finally she selects Jeanne Faussier (Julie Depardieu), a prostitute capable of killing in cold blood. After their arrival in Normandy, they are joined by Maria Luzzato (Maya Sansa), an Italian Jew and radio operator.

The mission gets under way well, but quickly becomes complicated. They are obliged to return to Paris, where the SOE gives them a new, almost suicidal, objective: to eliminate Colonel Heindrich, one of the key figures of Nazi counter-espionage. He knows too much about the planned landings.

Cast

Sophie Marceau as Louise Desfontaines
Julie Depardieu as Jeanne Faussier
Marie Gillain as Suzy Desprez
Déborah François as Gaëlle Lemenech
Moritz Bleibtreu as SS-Standartenführer Karl Heindrich
Maya Sansa as Maria Luzzato
Julien Boisselier as Pierre Desfontaines
Vincent Rottiers as Eddy
Volker Bruch as SS-Obersturmführer Becker
Robin Renucci as Melchior
Xavier Beauvois as Claude Granville
Colin David Reese as Colonel Maurice Buckmaster
Jurgen Mash as Generalfeldmarshall Gerd von Rundstedt
Conrad Cecil as Le géologue anglais
Alexandre Jazede as René Bourienne
David Capelle as Bernard Quesnot
Wolfgang Pissors as Médecin train
Chantal Garrigues as Mme Duchemin
James Gerard as Officier anglais 1
Edward Hamilton-Clark as Officier anglais 2
Marc Bertolini as Moustachu train
Rainer Sievert as Lieutenant hôpital Normandie
Ashley Wanninger as Soldat radio cour hôpital
Natasha Cashman as Secrétaire Buckmaster
Stanislas Kemper as Pilote Jeanne RAF
Simon Boyle as Dispatcher
Olivier De Wispelaere as Feld gendarme St Lazare
Johannes Oliver Hamm as Major SS train
David Van Severen as Caporal Pioche
Sarah Tullamore as Nurse hôpital anglais
Philippe Soutan as Poinçonneur Baratier
Yves Heck as Conducteur métro
Stéphane Foenkinos as Contrôleur train
Christophe Grofer as Sentinelle G2
Stefan Kollmuss as Officier Wehrmacht St Germain
Fabian Arning as Soldat Pierre
Olivier Beraud-Bedouin as Le milicien (as Olivier Beraud)
Alex Lutz as a Soldier
Jan Oliver Schroeder as Garde entrée hôpital
Serge Boutleroff as Concierge hôtel Régent (as Serge Onteniente)
Antoine Salomé as Groom Régent
Andrew W. Wilson as Prêtre catholique aérodrome
Ida Techer as La surveillante couloir^[5]

Reception

While the film received general positive reviews from French critics, certain resistance veterans from the time have criticised it saying it portrayed them as "coerced into joining the resistance", not joining through patriotism.^[6]

The film won the Radio-Canada Audience Award at the 2010 edition of the Cinéfranco film festival.

References

^ "Les Femmes de l\'ombre (2008) - JPBox-Office".
^ "Female Agents".
^ "Female Agents". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
^ "Lise Villameur obituary". The Times. London. 14 April 2004. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
^ "Full cast and crew for Female Agents". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
^ Bell, Susan (8 March 2008). "Sophie Marceau's new film sparks resistance". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2011.

External links

[1] "Les Femmes de l\'ombre (2008) - JPBox-Office".

[2] "Female Agents".

[imdb-3] "Female Agents". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

[times-4] "Lise Villameur obituary". The Times. London. 14 April 2004. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2011.

[imdbcast-5] "Full cast and crew for Female Agents". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

[6] Bell, Susan (8 March 2008). "Sophie Marceau's new film sparks resistance". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2011.

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