Charlotte Gray (2001)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Jeremy Brock, based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks
Directed by Gillian Armstrong

Starring Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, Rupert Penry-Jones
Features:

• Feature-length Commentary with director Armstrong
  
• Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries: A Villiage Revisits History and Living Through Wartime
  
• Cast/Crew Filmographies
  
• Theatrical Trailer
  

Charlotte Gray (Blanchett) doesn't feel like she's doing enough to help her country out in its effort in World War II. Having lived and studied in Paris, she is fluent in French, so she gets recruited by an English Intelligence officer to become a message runner in occupied France. Before she leaves she meets and falls in love with a pilot in the Royal Air Force whom she later learns is shot down. In France, her first message drop gets intercepted so she is forced to hide out with a French resistance guerilla named Juliene (Crudup) and his father, Auguste (Gambon) until she can safely return to England.

Gillian Armstrong has put together a really nice film from the very strong screenplay by Brock. The titular character has a very clear arc that is both believable and sustainable and you instantly can buy into the fact that she's not only capable of taking on the task she sets for herself, but is given adequate training to pull it off. Blanchett is perfectly cast and, as always, her accents (note the plural) are completely seamless. Crudup holds his own very well as the resistance fighter. The costumes and scenery are stunning and accurate. At first, I was going to say that the only flaw with the film is that it's slow to get started and they spend a little too much time establishing her love for the pilot, but it really pays off in the end when we find out exactly how much Charlotte has changed after getting back to England.

The DVD is simple but elegant; a perfect match for the film. There are basically two featurettes and a director's commentary track. The first featurette, "A Villiage Revisits History," is about the town where they did a majority of the filming. It is short, but a touching tribute to the town and how the older people who lived there were effected by seeing German tanks roll through their town again after all these years. The second, "Living Through Wartime," is about the character of Charlotte herself and how Armstrong came to chose the subject about which to make a film. In the commentary, Armstrong really gives you solid information about the production of the film that is of interest. Unlike so many other commentary tracks, she sticks to the subject of the film, giving real insight into, among other things, the period set dressings and costumes. At one point, she actually apologizes for having to make an artistic decision to go against period WWII set dressings because it really would have interfered with the lighting.

In short, I think this movie is very much worth keeping in your collection. It's one of the better "modern" World War II films.