DVDs

Charlotte Gray

Region 1

Region 4

By Richard Moore

Charlotte Gray (Cate Blanchett) is a middle-class Scots girl who wants to do something for the World War II effort against the Germans.

She speaks French, is clever and tough, and when she is approached one day on a train by a mysterious chap she is drawn into the secret war of Special Operations Executive.

These guys and gals are dropped into enemy territory and basically help organise and liaise with freedom fighters.

Charlotte's boyfriend Peter Gregory (Rupert Penry-Jones) is an RAF pilot who is one day shot down over France. She then decides to parachute into Vichy France - the large part of France as yet unoccupied by the Nazis - to try to find him.

As Dominique Ober she is met by her local SOE contact, the mysterious Mirabel (Ron Cook) and the cute-but-intense resistance leader Julien Levade (Billy Crudup).

He and his local team are communists who may or may not be the types of people the British want to deal with.

When her initial meeting with a French woman goes disastrously wrong, she is employed by Julien's father Levade (Michael Gambon) in his well-worn chateau.

From there things hot up as in order to garrison the French coast the Germans occupy Vichy France and instead of slightly malleable authorities to oppose, the resistance - and Charlotte - comes up against dyed-in-the-wool hardmen.

While there is action in the movie, it is more a journey of self-discovery with romance and history thrown in for good measure. It is deliberately paced and, it has to be said, exquisitely photographed.

The video transfer is superb and the sound also warrants the thumbs-up. Colour richness, detail, sharpness are all here - and so are Blanchett's startlingly blue eyes.

Damn that lady can act - as can the entire cast. Crudup puts in another excellent showing while special mention has to go to Michael Gambon who is utterly believable as the old man. Special boos must go to Anton Lesser who plays the smarmily treacherous teacher Benech.

I reckon this movie has copped a lot of unfair criticism over recent months and, for the life of me, I can't see why.

It is a melodrama, set in wartime, but it isn't over sentimental or sooky. I found it a thoroughly entertaining night in front of the screen.

Conclusion: Movie 85% Extras: 65%