March 28, 2024

'' The women of the shadow '': resistant and heroic

Engaged in the French resistance, Louise (Sophie Marceau) fled to London after the murder of her husband. She is recruited by SOE, a secret intelligence and sabotage service led by Churchill.
He was entrusted with his first mission: the recovery of a British agent who had fallen into the hands of the Germans as he was preparing to land on the beaches of Normandy. The man has not spoken yet but time is running out. In the emergency, Louise must constitute a commando of women chosen for the needs of the operation. For the recruitment, all the means are good: lies, blackmail, remissions of sentence ... She commits Suzy (Marie Gillain), cabaret dancer and great seductress, Gaëlle (Déborah François), a young specialist in explosives and Jeanne (Julie Depardieu), prostitute, able to murder in cold blood. Parachuted in Normandy, they are joined by Maria (Maya Sansa), Jewish Italian, radio operator. The mission that had started well, will quickly become complicated ...
Constrained to return to Paris, the SOE sets a new goal: to eliminate one of the key elements of the counter-espionage Nazi, Colonel Heindrich. The man knows too much about the preparations for the landing and the mission is almost suicidal ...

Tribute to the resistant
 
 Movie feminine action, The women of the shadow of Jean-Paul Salomé pays tribute to the resistant of the 2e world war, physically engaged in the conflict and whose action is often unknown.
Through this group of five women, we discover in pictures the daily life of war: life in Paris, mutual aid, violence, torture, action ... Each of them is committed (by will or by force) for different reasons and lives the conflict in a very personal way without heroism for the most part grandiloquent.
 
Is it because this movie starring female heroines, where we usually see men, that it is also strong? The relationship of these women to their physical integrity is an element that allows them to feel the strength of their commitment and all the violence of this period of history. The director explains: "... these women put themselves in danger physically, forever, with the torture they suffered, their relationship to motherhood was put in play, they took the risk of not being able to They were affected in their femininity as well as in their intimacy, which is precisely what I found strong in this subject.This changes the way we look at each of their actions, the emotional dimension is greater. "
 
The movie was shot in natural scenery and we find an old Paris (subway platform, apartments ...) that gives all its veracity to the images. Note also the special care brought to recreate the hairstyles and costumes of time.

Finally special mention to the actresses of this tragedy Sophie Marceau which beautifully encamps a character without concession and ready for all the sacrifices, inspired by a resister who really existed.


"The women of the shadow" of Jean-Paul Salomé with Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Marie Gillain, François Deborah, Maya Sansa, Moritz Bleibtreu and Julien Boisselier
Released on March 5, 2008



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