''Female Agents'' () is a 2008 French

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé and starring

Sophie Marceau Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and ''La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Act ...

Julie Depardieu Julie Marion Depardieu (born 18 June 1973) is a French actress who has appeared in a number of successful films. Early life Born 18 June 1973 in Boulogne-Billancourt, she is the daughter of Gérard and Élisabeth Depardieu and the sister of the ...

Marie Gillain Marie Gillain O.M.W. (born 18 June 1975) is a Belgian actress. In popular culture * She was the heroine of the John Malkovich play ''Hysteria'' in Chicago in December 1999. * She is a model for cosmetics brand Lancôme. * In 2013 she was no ...

Déborah François Déborah François (; born 24 May 1987) is a Belgium, Belgian actress. She is best known for her starring role in the Palme d'Or-winning film, ''L'Enfant (film), The Child'' (2005), directed by the Dardenne brothers. In 2009, she won a César A ...

, and

Moritz Bleibtreu Moritz Johann Bleibtreu ( is a German film actor, voice actor, and film director. He has been a successful actor in many movies such as ''Run Lola Run, Das Experiment, The Baader Meinhof Complex'', and Atomised (film), ''Elementary Particles''. ...

. Written by Salomé and Laurent Vachaud, the film is about female resistance fighters in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Jean-Paul Salomé, the director, drew inspiration from an

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper of

Lise de Baissac Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE Croix de Guerre, CdeG (11 May 1905 – 29 March 2004), code names ''Odile'' and ''Marguerite,'' was a Mauritian agent in the United Kingdom's clandesti ...

(Lise Villameur), from

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

(then a British colony), one of the heroines of the SOE, named "Louise Desfontaines" in the film and played by Sophie Marceau. The film was partly funded by

BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, ...

Plot

In May 1944 Louise Desfontaines (Sophie Marceau), a member of the French Resistance, flees to Spain after her husband is killed, where she is captured and later expatriated to London. She is recruited by the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE), the secret spy and sabotage service initiated by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. Louise is given an urgent first mission: to extricate a British agent (Conrad Cecil) who has fallen into German hands while preparing the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

. The agent has not yet revealed anything but time is pressing. Louise must first create a commando group of women especially chosen for the needs of the operation. When it comes to recruitment, anything goes: lies, blackmail, bribery (through the offer of remission of a death sentence) and calls to carry out patriotic duty. She first employs Suzy Desprez (

), a cabaret dancer who excels in the art of seducing men. Then she brings in Gaëlle Lemenech (

), a chemist and explosives expert. Finally she selects Jeanne Faussier (

), a prostitute capable of killing in cold blood. After their arrival in Normandy, they are joined by Maria Luzzato ( Maya Sansa), an Italian Jew and radio operator. The mission gets under way well, but quickly becomes complicated. They are obliged to return to Paris, where the SOE gives them a new, almost suicidal, objective: to eliminate Colonel Heindrich, one of the key figures of Nazi counter-espionage. He knows too much about the planned landings.

Cast

as Louise Desfontaines *

as Jeanne Faussier *

as Suzy Desprez *

as Gaëlle Lemenech *

as SS-

Standartenführer __NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...

Karl Heindrich * Maya Sansa as Maria Luzzato *

Julien Boisselier Julien Boisselier is a French actor. Early life and education Julien Boisselier was born and raised in Nantes, before moving to Paris to study comedy at Le Cours Florent. Career Boisselier has acted in many films and television series. He sta ...

as Pierre Desfontaines * Vincent Rottiers as Eddy * Volker Bruch as SS-

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK and the ...

Becker * Robin Renucci as Melchior * Xavier Beauvois as Claude Granville * Colin David Reese as Colonel

Maurice Buckmaster Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster (11 January 1902 – 17 April 1992) was the leader of the French section of Special Operations Executive and was awarded the '' Croix de Guerre''. Apart from his war service, Buckmaster was a corporate manager ...

* Jurgen Mash as Generalfeldmarshall

Gerd von Rundstedt Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (12 December 1875 – 24 February 1953) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) in the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'' (Army) of Nazi Germany and OB West, ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (Commande ...

* Conrad Cecil as Le géologue anglais * Alexandre Jazede as René Bourienne * David Capelle as Bernard Quesnot * Wolfgang Pissors as Médecin train * Chantal Garrigues as Mme Duchemin * James Gerard as Officier anglais 1 * Edward Hamilton-Clark as Officier anglais 2 * Marc Bertolini as Moustachu train * Rainer Sievert as Lieutenant hôpital Normandie * Ashley Wanninger as Soldat radio cour hôpital * Natasha Cashman as Secrétaire Buckmaster * Stanislas Kemper as Pilote Jeanne RAF * Simon Boyle as Dispatcher * Olivier De Wispelaere as Feld gendarme St Lazare * Johannes Oliver Hamm as Major SS train * David Van Severen as Caporal Pioche * Sarah Tullamore as Nurse hôpital anglais * Philippe Soutan as Poinçonneur Baratier * Yves Heck as Conducteur métro * Stéphane Foenkinos as Contrôleur train * Christophe Grofer as Sentinelle G2 * Stefan Kollmuss as Officier Wehrmacht St Germain * Fabian Arning as Soldat Pierre * Olivier Beraud-Bedouin as Le milicien (as Olivier Beraud) *

Alex Lutz Alex Lutz (born 24 August 1978) is a French actor, comedian and director. He is best known for his role of Catherine in ''La revue de presse de Catherine et Liliane'' in '' Le Petit Journal''. He won two Molière awards for comedy in 2016 and 2 ...

as a Soldier * Jan Oliver Schroeder as Garde entrée hôpital * Serge Boutleroff as Concierge hôtel Régent (as Serge Onteniente) * Antoine Salomé as Groom Régent * Andrew W. Wilson as Prêtre catholique aérodrome * Ida Techer as La surveillante couloir

Reception

While the film received general positive reviews from French critics, certain resistance veterans from the time have criticised it saying it portrayed them as "coerced into joining the resistance", not joining through

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

. The film won the

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

Audience Award at the 2010 edition of the Cinéfranco film festival.

References

External links

* * *
''Female Agents''
at uniFrance {{DEFAULTSORT:Female Agents 2008 films 2000s spy films 2000s historical drama films 2000s French-language films 2000s war adventure films French World War II films French war films French spy films World War II films based on actual events Films about the French Resistance Films set in 1944 Films directed by Jean-Paul Salomé Films scored by Bruno Coulais 2000s French films French-language war drama films