Charity's Place

A WOMAN AT WAR

REVIEWED BY BRETT WILLIS

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: violence, thematic elements

Rated:

Based on Hélène Moszkiewiez’ book “Inside the Gestapo,” this account of a young Jewish girl in World War II who voluntarily went into the very jaws of death is disturbing but worthwhile. When the Third Reich and its Blitzkrieg conquer Belgium in 1940, the carefree life of rebellious, nineteen-year-old Hélène is greatly altered. No more thoughts of going to University; life in Brussels is now a daily ordeal of survival. Her parents are the type who try to keep a low profile and get along. Hélène is the type who wants to fight back. And, she speaks excellent German.

Franz Bueller, a young war profiteer who constantly rubs shoulders with the Nazis, is widely regarded by his countrymen as a traitor; yet he actually belongs to the underground. Seeing in Hélène the qualities he’s looking for, he recruits her. After Hélène’s family is taken away while she’s at a meeting with the underground, she has nothing else to live for, so she agrees to do whatever they ask. They give her the cover identity of a Gentile named “Olga Richter.” Hélène remarks that some of the papers of Olga’s family are so perfect that they can’t be detected as fakes. One of the men replies that they aren’t fakes. No further explanation is given; but I understood this to mean that there was a real Olga with anti-Semitic views, and she conveniently had an accident so Hélène could be given her identity.

Hélène bluffs her way into employment at the Gestapo office. While there, she must show no emotion as she serves as an interpreter for prisoners who are being tortured for information. She must also help to process the paperwork that sends many Jews to the trains. But she gums up the works as much as she dares. And whenever possible, she uses her position and inside information to warn people that they’re about to be arrested. Peddling underground newspapers, running guns, bumping off Nazis who get too suspicious—nothing is off limits for Hélène and her team. When the British liberate Belgium, Hélène faces a new challenge—the Brits don’t believe she’s really a Jew and a member of the underground, and there are few people left who can vouch for her. The convoluted finale leaves us thinking hard about the issues of working in the underground. Everyone who does it gets dirty; how dirty is too dirty?

Some sources consider Hélène’s book a factual autobiography, while others call it a novel. Perhaps Hélène still faced the same problems when writing as when she was jailed by the Brits: even if everything she said was true, it could no longer be proven. Martha Plimpton, who seems to specialize in roles of women with a chip on their shoulder (cancer victim, poor white trash etc.), is perfect as Hélène. The handsome and polite Eric Stoltz would seem miscast as Franz, but he plays him as a conning smoothie. The look of the film is that of a British TV movie you might see on PBS. The photography is dark and fuzzy at times, and the special effects didn’t break anyone’s budget. The subject matter is what carries the story. Normally, whatever language the characters are using at the moment is represented as English. But when Hélène is interpreting, her native language (presumably either French or Dutch) is represented as English and the German is left as German, with subtitles.

There are scenes of violence—bombings, machine-gunnings—in which people are killed, but they’re handled discreetly. Most of the violence is off-screen, and when it’s on-screen there’s usually no blood (the knifing of a Nazi officer is an exception). Profanity is limited to one d*mn, one bast*rd and one expression of "Oh my God." Hélène and Franz take comfort in each other’s company, are seen kissing on occasion, and it’s implied that they spend some nights together. Of course the film has many tense moments, as central characters run a constant risk of being caught in their underground activities.

My recommendation on viewing this and similar films: teens and up, definitely yes. Young children, no. Ten to thirteen, depends on what else they watch and how much they already know about this subject matter. If kids are still in their latency period, let them stay kids as long as possible. But if they DO know about the Nazis, then stories of heroism in times of hardship are very appropriate as character-builders.