This World War II era Romantic Spy Thriller- about 2 agents who find love in the midst of chaos, is reminscent of films that were made in a different age. The couple meets in Casablanca-French Morocco, which does bring back obvious comparisons with the legendary Casablanca starring HumphreyBogart. The love scene between Pitt and Cotillard in the car during a sandstorm-reminiscent of another film-the Hitchcock thriller “To Catch a Thief”,also lends some nostalgia and adds to the romantic aura of this story. But the plot doesn’t play into the romantic elements, but instead relies more on the gritty and disjointed nature of war and the unique circumstances which bring the two lovers together.
The two spies work together to pull off a daring and dangerous assignment as a team, and fall in love in the interim. The action then moves to London, where they marry and try to live a seemingly normal life in the midst of war.
The film takes poetic license with the wartime dates and times surrounding the very real events happening in London during theWar.One bit of hokum is the scene where the heroine, played by Marion Cotillard, gives birth amid air attacks. It’s a bit over the top. We know the place is “fraught with danger”…but to have the girl in a shelled out building outside as she gives birth is overplaying your hand. Note: The Bombing of London-The Blitz-so named for Hitler’s lightning war (Blitzkrieg), ended by 1941.
Director Robert Zemeckis gives several nods to the Hitchcock-ian style of cinematography as he shows Pitt descending down a chaotic maze of stairs as the shot hovers above. All these at times interesting and occasionally irritating scenes don’t distract from the elements of this romantic thriller that manages to weave an engaging drama into what has become a rather stale series of films portraying the drama of the second World War.
This film is Recommended. See it at the movies, there are many scenes that the small screen just won’t do justice in watching. Some films are so gripping and moving that you need to see them on the big screen, but in this case, the combination of the beauty of the two screen stars combined with some artful cinematography make this one to watch at the movies.
Six Degrees of Film 