Great Film overall

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Admirable film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A bit like a female-cast, French-with-subtitles version of The Dirty Dozen, with just a smidgen of a James Bond flick. Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers it ain't, but it's a good WW II story. A story about brave women, and only one feminist line in it ("You would never have done this to men," in a situation in which, the guy would certainly have done the same to men.

Always been fascinated by the world of SOE ever since growing up watching Secret Army as a kid. This is one of the best films I've ever seen on the subject, much better than Charlotte Gray or TV series like 'Wish Me Luck' which were distinctly mediocre. Was actually unaware that this was a French language film although this doesn't detract from the action at all. It also made sense that French speakers would practice their language exclusively before returning to their homeland so that they don't accidentally lapse into English by mistake or speak British accented French. I would very much have liked to have seen more detail in terms of the commando training which has always been one of the more fascinating aspects of the story (they all seem to be mysteriously parachute qualified virtually instantly?). The story isn't bad although you wonder that they would give such priority to killing a single SS Colonel even if he was given Rommel's ear by the 3rd of June 1944 it would be too late for them to do anything about it. From a military perspective it isn't bad although everyone falls into the shoot from the hip tradition. When the Colonel is giving his briefing I kept expecting the interviewing officers to ask him if the geologist couldn't have been the diversion, intended to draw German forces away from Calais. You also wonder that the French officer tells him the truth about the Mulberry harbours rather than try to buy time by bluffing, saying they're for protecting the landing craft from underwater attack or something?Obviously there's a lot of torture here but it's never gratuitous, you still feel for the captured religious agent who cannot bare to kill herself as she's supposed to and breaks under extreme pain as anyone would. The ending despite the Allied victory is downbeat and maudlin, you'd have liked the sole survivor to have a big family and name her kids after her fallen comrades but things don't always work out that way (presumably she lost her baby due to the torture and may not have been able to have any more?). Her looking through the photos and coming across her friend who has been tortured to death is heartrending although couldn't she have come up with a less drastic 'diversion' at the railway station?. What's perhaps even more interesting is the fate of the young French collaborator who switches sides and becomes the hero of the Resistance, we last see him capturing the SS Colonel's assistant (and what happens to him? Shot as a war criminal or recruited by the West to help in the Cold War?). All told a good film but I'd have liked a little more

The premise of Jean-Paul Salomé's 'Les femmes de l'ombre' is as simple as it is effective: a hastily assembled team of female commandos is tasked with liberating a British man who ended up in a German hospital. He needs to be freed before the Germans realise that he might have information on the imminent Normandy landings. As usual, the plan goes awry, and the women are asked to go to Paris to take care of some loose ends.What unfolds is a battle of wits, of torture, and of actual fire fights between the British SOE-affiliated French resistance fighters led by Pierre Desfontaines (Julien Boisselier) and his sister Louise Desfontaines (Sophie Marceau) on the one hand, and the loathsome Karl Heindrich (Moritz Bleibtreu) on the other.While the events often strain credulity, and sometimes feel completely impossible, I was able to enjoy this little adventure through German-occupied France because of its high pace, interesting locations, and credible visuals. I suppose some will see this as a negative, and decry its similarities to the nonsensical American action films of which there is certainly no shortage. There's certainly something to that, and I would join them in hoping we'll someday see a more realistic take on these brave women who risked everything for their family, friends, and country. The Germans do a good job of living up to their reputation, though, and the film is appropriately dedicated to the women who fought against Nazi barbarity.The acting is mostly fine, and I would ascribe any lack of characterization or credibility to the script rather than the men and women involved. I'd also like to echo the comment of another reviewer in that I would have liked to see more of Maya Sansa's Maria Luzzato, who seemed like a more interesting character than the two younger members of Desfontaines' group.All in all, I found this film to be an enjoyable ride through France in June 1944. We are reminded, if perhaps not as accurately as possible, of the great sacrifice made by both men and women to put an end to the horrors Germany inflicted on millions of innocent Europeans. It might not be perfect, but it works well enough, and I think this perspective on the war will appeal to parts of the public that might otherwise not be interested. If so, it'll have accomplished a good thing, because as Ray Bradbury famously wrote in his book Fahrenheit 451 (1953): "We're remembering. That's where we'll win out in the long run."

I started watching this movie rather sceptical, because I was expecting a french patriotism flick, since french history usually gives you the impression that the whole of France was in "La Resistance". But I have to say, that I was surprised about the interpretation of occupied France. The story is well written, the actors fit the roles mostly (I love Moritz Bleibtreu but an SS officer doesn't really suit him in my opinion) and they do a good job. Overall a good thriller set in the Third Reich. The true core of the story is of course really small. The events presented in the movie didn't take place. But its good entertainment.