Listen very carefully, I will say this only wuurnce ... Women have been making important contributions to national life (at least in European countries like France and England) for a long time, not merely since the advent of 'feminism' thirty years ago. It doesn't need a film like this to present that fact - the involvement of women - as if it were a surprising discovery! One of the aims of Female Agents is to pay tribute to a group of women who helped the D-Day Landings to go ahead, but whose contribution was not, perhaps, recognised as much as it should have been. That is a good aim, but I felt that the film over-played the feminism angle in a way that seemed, at times, patronising. Apart from that flaw, however, it was a gripping, fast-paced piece of cinema that told a fascinating story very well.
Jean-Paul Salome, the director, combines convincing character-development with good cinematic technique (such as interesting cutting between different scenes) to hold the viewer's attention from the start. The women in the team (whose mission is initially to save a man wounded whilst reconnoitring the Normandy beaches, then to eliminate the Nazi colonel who suspects the plans) are portrayed as very different in their personalities. Gaelle, the explosives expert, is religious, Suzy is a sensualist, Jeanne is earthy and tough, and Louise, who holds them together, is coolly rational. The male characters in the film (even the ones on the Allied side) come off rather badly in comparison. Louise's brother Pierre, for example, seems cold, and fails to win our sympathy even when he is the victim of torture by the Nazi colonel, Heindrich. Perhaps if there had been some more sympathetic male characters the film wouldn't have felt quite so dogmatic in its feminism. Colonel Heindrich's romantic involvement with Suzy adds complexity and psychological interest to his character, and his one act of mercy redeems him somewhat, but ultimately (and inevitably) he is a villain. The fact that he alone of the higher-ranking Nazis seemed close to suspecting the Allied plans before D-Day is intriguing, and a testimony to his intelligence.
There were some very skilfully-shot sequences in this film. For example, the bombing of the hospital near the beginning. Before the bomb has exploded, Louise (disguised as a nurse) stalks Heindrich with a gun whilst the rest of the men are distracted by a Folies Bergeres-style striptease routine that some of her fellow agents put on. Louise tracks Heindrich to the men's lavatory and he, still in his cubicle, sees her approaching by means of the reflection in the chrome plumbing in front of him, The camera angles here added magnificently to the suspense, in a way reminiscent of the chase scenes in that movie classic, The Third Man. The fast pace continues throughout Female Agents, with twists and turns enough (no spoilers here) to intrigue the viewer right up to the end. It is a very moving film as well, and makes you wonder how many other heroic lives from that era remain untold.
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