Allied

Though not a huge devotee of Brad Pitt’s films, I always look forward to anything starring Marion Cotillard so was attracted by the prospect of settling down to this romantic WW2 thriller on a cold and dank December afternoon. I particularly looked forward to judging for myself whether there really was any Bogart/Bergman-style chemistry between the two leads. Was this the new Casablanca maybe?

The action is set in 1942. Canadian intelligence officer Wing Commander Max Vatan (played by Pitt) is parachuted into the Moroccan desert to assassinate a high-ranking Nazi officer at the embassy in Casablanca, helped by French resistance fighter Marian Beauséjour (Cotillard). They masquerade as man and wife, putting on a convincing performance for the locals. Marian decides early on to test Max’s mettle in a quietly seductive scene, but he’s a stalwart professional and doesn’t take the bait. But of course, as in all good romances, he soon finds himself unable to resist Marian’s charms and in the run-up to their death-defying mission they finally succumb to their mutual passion in the midst of a fierce sandstorm (cue much sand, much fumbling and some decidedly vertiginous camerawork!)
Bonnie and Clyde-style, the pair carry out the assassination (undeniable shades of Mr & Mrs Smith here) and then manage to escape in the chaos that ensues. Max invites Marian to come back with him to London - where he’s stationed with British Intelligence – and marry him.  A daughter is born (in a frankly rather hammy air raid scene) and the Vatan domestic idyll is complete, cosy home in Hampstead an’ all.

Then one day Vatan is called in by his superiors to be told that his wife is in fact a German spy, – V-section having already intercepted several messages they think are being sent by her to Berlin. They announce their intention to ‘blue dye’ her, i.e. plant sensitive information which they can then track back to her. Vatan’s role is to act normally - not an easy gig given he is now completely besotted by her. Despite explicit orders not to carry out his own investigations into ‘Marian’s’ background, Vatan is unable to resist pursuing his own enquiries.

The first takes him to a fellow officer Guy Sangster, said to have been smuggled out of Dieppe in 1941 by Marian. Vatan shows him her photo but Guy is unable to identify her, or indeed anyone, as he is now blind. In a second attempt to get at the truth about his wife Vatan goes to see Paul Delamare, a former resistance associate of hers, who has been imprisoned in Dieppe. The drunkard tells Vatan about the real Marian: “she paints, laughs a lot…. and plays the piano”. She was by all accounts renowned for her performances of ‘La Marseillaise’ for the Nazis. The rest of the film hinges on this small piece of info. Vatan takes Marion to the local pub and sits her down at the piano, demands that she play the French anthem. She can’t. Vatan knows she’s an informer, but is still desperately in love with her. He knows that their only recourse is to escape or both be killed by V-section. They collect their daughter Anna, drive to the airfield to catch a plane out of the country but as officers arrive to remonstrate with Vatan, Marian gets out of the car and shoots herself dead at Max’s feet. Vatan is left to bring up his daughter alone…

So… Bogart and Bergman? Mmm, not sure. But there is still more than a hint of Hollywood glamour here. Pitt in a Wing Commander’s uniform is not a bad look and Cotillard is always mesmerizing, managing to smoke those endless cigarettes every bit as languorously as Bergman, Bacall and their ilk! But critics are divided on how convincing the lead characters are together.  Robbie Collin in the Telegraph describes the movie as a “swanky, sexy spy thriller”, while the Guardian critic finds it a “passionless potboiler” (but then what do Guardian readers know of passion, I ask myself?) My view lies somewhere in the middle.

I thought many of the scenes in Allied  were beautifully shot – loved the images of sultry Casablanca – and I liked the clever use of mirrors throughout to point up the contrast, so essential to the film’s theme, between what is and isn’t ‘real’. A nice touch.

My verdict? Allied is a good old fashioned romance. Pitt was ok (though hats off to him for a very passable French accent), but Marion Cotillard for me steals the show. And even if you find the story/their romance a bit far-fetched, there is always the thrill of Cotillard’s to-die-for outfits – très chic. As one critic said: “Espionage never looked so good”!

*Click here to view trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3640424/videoplayer/vi4001674777