Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Female Agents Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 21, 2008

A gorgeous cast of French-speaking spies is on a mission to secure the success of D-day in Jean-Paul Salome’s cracking Les Femmes de l'ombre a.k.a Female Agents (2008). Pic won’t reinvent the spy genre but an impressive period look, good script, and an upbeat tempo are likely to entice those who are growing weary of the never-ending Bond sequels.

Four women - Louise (Sophie Marceau, La Fidelitie), Jeanne (Julie Depardieu, In extremis), Gaelle (Deborah Francois, L’enfant), Suzy (Marie Gillain, La Clef) – are sent from London to a heavily-guarded Nazi hospital in France to rescue a British geologist (Conrad Cecil), who apparently knows a lot about the Allies and their plans to land in Normandy. The four women are joined by a Jewish Resistance collaborator (Maya Sansa, Bungiorno, note), who will assist them along the way. Louise’s brother (Julien Boisselier, Le Convoyeur) is heading the mission.

Once on French soil, some of the spies begin to question the orders of their leaders. One of the girls is also forced to confront an ex-lover (Moritz Bleibtreu, Run Lola Run), who is now in charge with the local SS division. Things get really complicated when the Nazis capture Pierre and Gaelle and the rest of the spies are left surviving on their own.

The agents

Those of you who remember Claude Berri’s Lucie Aubrac (1997) will find plenty of familiar overtones in Jean-Paul Salome’s Female Agents, a film loosely based on the true story of French resistance fighter Llise Villameur. Both tell their stories from a largely unconventional point of view, convincingly avoid overdramatization, and never quite stumble into the all too familiar us-the good versus them-the bad scheme. Sure, the two parties are clearly defined here, but they are far less clichéd than what one might expect them to be.

Similar to Berri’s film, Female Agents also manages to stay away from being nothing but a candy-trip with exotic period decors. Its script is actually quite strong and with enough depth to keep the serious aficionado’s interest aroused. The terrific cast also does a great job in revealing emotions that spy films typically have a difficult time addressing primarily due to the fact that the genre has been so watered down that contemporary spy projects are easier to tag as action (Spy Game, The Bourne Ultimatum) than spy.

Female Agents is also a notably dark film, one that clearly spends more time on the spiritual degradation the main characters suffer than the actual consequences of their often flawed decisions. As a result, especially during the second half, Female Agents proves to be far less exotic than its title may initially suggest. The darker side of espionage convincingly takes over the heroic one and, as far as this reviewer is concerned, this is the primary reason why Jean-Paul Salome’s film succeeds.

Moritz Bleibtreu’s impersonation of the Nazi official, who is responsible for the neutralizing of the French agents, is terrific. It certainly adds a great deal of credibility to this project as it effectively downplays the asinine stereotypes the Nazis are showered with in WW2 films. His emotions are real, while his behavior is convincing. Aside from his questionable ability to interrogate his victims in their native tongues, his moody outbursts (or quiet contemplation of his victims) are indeed very impressive.

Of course, there is a lot in Female Agents that does not work quite that well. The fascinatingly gifted Nazi officials who speak fluently two, at times even three, languages, the amusing shooting skills the agents reveal, the occasional hollow lines that are uttered just because they belong in a spy film certainly affect the otherwise tight presentation the French cast delivers. However, even with these obvious flaws, Female Agents is still far more believable and persuasive than most every other contemporary spy blockbuster audiences are spoon-fed with. Plain and simple – there aren’t any superheroes here.

From a strictly technical point of view, Female Agents appears to be well polished. The giant swastika flags greeting the Nazi officials, the sharp limousines, and the impeccable uniforms suggest that detail was a key factor for the French producers. The camerawork on the other hand is never rushed and systematically complimenting of the cast and their actions.

Female Agents Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Female Agents arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of Revolver Entertainment (the film was already release on Blu-ray in France via TF1). Similar to the BD release of Kidulthood this transfer looks quite lovely. Contrast and clarity are strong, detail is at a consistently high level, and I did not detect any debris, dirt, or specks. The color-scheme is also solid with blacks in particular looking very strong. In fact, during some of the nighttime scenes (in particular the sniper scene in the very beginning of the film and the escape scene after the agents free the geologist) I think that the blacks are a bit overwhelming. Shadow detail on the other hand appears to be rather pleasing and I truly do not have any reservations with the manner in which Jean-Paul Salome's film looks in general. Furthermore, I did not detect any disturbing examples of DNR manipulation – there are specific scenes that exhibit a subtle amount of grain which appears to be perfectly intact. Finally, Female Angels reveals very warm and film-like look that I believe is in synch with the director's vision. (Note: This is a region-free disc which you will be able to play in your Region-A machine. However, please note that it takes approximately 10-15 seconds for the player to access the main menu as there is a PAL-logo that precedes it).

Female Agents Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two tracks on this Blu-ray disc: French: Dolby Digital 5.1 and French: Stereo 2.0. Which is a bit disappointing! I note that it is disappointing not only because Revolver Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Kidulthood is terrifically sounding but also because TF1's release of Female Agents offers a solid DTS-HD Master audio mix which should have made it to this UK-produced BD. Unfortunately, all that we have here is the Dolby Digital 5.1 track which isn't poor at all but it surely isn't comparable to the DTS-HD Master mix I mentioned above. This being said, the French Dolby Digital 5.1 track is of above average quality. There is an admirable amount of activity in the rear channels, the explosions come off the speakers quite well, and the dialog is very easy to follow. Still, the depth, expansiveness, and potency a proficiently DTS-HD Master mix typically offers is simply not here. Finally, the English subtitles are imposed and I personally was not able to turn them off at all. I am convinced they appear as such due to the complex regional limitations the Revolver Entertainment are required to follow.

Female Agents Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Aside from a standard "Making of" featurette where the cast and crew are seen in action as well as sharing their thoughts about Female Agents there are no other supplemental materials to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

Female Agents Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

An old-fashioned spy story with an impressively beautiful cast Jean-Paul Salome's Female Agents should appeal to those who found Paul Verhoeven's Black Book to be intriguing. It is beautifully photographed and with some quite impressive period decors that look marvelous on Blu-ray. This being said, the lack of a dedicated HD audio mix is somewhat disappointing especially considering the fact that TF1's BD release boasts a full-blown DTS-HD Master mix. I am unsure what it was kept off this disc. Still, having seen Revolver Entertainment's Kidulthood I am very optimistic about the future and the distrib's ability to offer high-quality Blu-ray releases. As I mentioned in the review for Kidulthood I cannot wait to see what they have planned for 2009.