A CALL TO SPY
****
Director: Lydia Dean Pilcher
Screenplay: Sarah Megan Thomas
Principal cast:
Sarah Megan Thomas
Stana Katic
Radhika Apte
Linus Roache
Rossif Sutherland
Marc Rissmann
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 123 mins.
Australian release date: 26 December 2020.
A Call To Spy is the directorial debut of the Oscar-nominated documentary producer Lydia Dean Pilcher. It was first shown in Australia at this year’s British Film Festival, which is interesting because it is a US production, albeit set in World War II London and France. The screenplay was inspired by the true stories of the first group of women to be recruited to work as spies for Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). The plan was a desperate measure to infiltrate occupied France and enlist people to aid the Resistance movement in their sabotage efforts, established on the assumption that women would be regarded less suspiciously than men by the Nazi occupiers. In August 1941, Vera Atkins (Stana Katic) was chosen to be the ‘spymistress’ whose job it was to select the recruits. Acting on instructions from her peers, she enlisted only attractive women - “They must be pretty”, she was told - and was responsible for providing them with the skills essential to operate behind enemy lines. The story concentrates on two of these brave women, who were polar opposites but who became heroines for putting their lives in danger for King and Country.
Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas, who also produced and wrote the script), an American who had lived in France prior to the German invasion, was determined to do her bit to protect the life she had enjoyed in Europe. She was a forthright woman, undeterred by a disability; she had a wooden leg she called ‘Cuthbert’, the consequence of a hunting accident. The other recruit the film follows, Noor Inayat Khan (Indian star Radhika Apte), was a wireless operator of Indian descent, having been born to an Indian Muslim father and an English mother. Her father practised Sufism and she was raised as a pacifist but she felt compelled to do what she could to bring about an end to the war. Given false names and identities, Virginia and Noor were smuggled into Lyon in Vichy France, where they began their important, perilous work. As we follow their exploits, there are some gripping moments that make for uncomfortable viewing as the net closes in on them. The city was where the Gestapo operated under the cruel orders of the infamous Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, ‘the Butcher of Lyon’ (played by Marc Rissmann), so the women had to be constantly on the move and could never be quite sure who to trust.
A Call To Spy is a well-documented and researched exposé of a little-known operation that played a significant role in frustrating the work of the German army in France. Pilcher has handled the portrayal well and the script, although very tense at times, never pushes the boundaries of credibility. Sarah Megan Thomas has explained that, “The history of [the] SOE is complicated and controversial. What was interesting to me to explore is the power of resistance, even in the face of possible failure, and how both small and large individual acts can make a difference. In the end, this is a movie about beginnings. The courageous individuals featured in our story put their lives on the line in the name of freedom before there was an established spy circuit - before anyone really knew what they were doing”. It was incredibly dangerous work and 13 of the 39 female agents recruited made the ultimate sacrifice, paying with their lives.
It is worth a visit to the cinema to learn about these events that have been largely ignored by history, although that is starting to change and in recent years a number of books have been written about these courageous women. A Call To Spy shows how, if it was ever in any doubt, females when put to the test are just as brave as their male counterparts and are prepared to sacrifice all for the benefit of others. Go girls!
Screenplay: Sarah Megan Thomas
Principal cast:
Sarah Megan Thomas
Stana Katic
Radhika Apte
Linus Roache
Rossif Sutherland
Marc Rissmann
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 123 mins.
Australian release date: 26 December 2020.
A Call To Spy is the directorial debut of the Oscar-nominated documentary producer Lydia Dean Pilcher. It was first shown in Australia at this year’s British Film Festival, which is interesting because it is a US production, albeit set in World War II London and France. The screenplay was inspired by the true stories of the first group of women to be recruited to work as spies for Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). The plan was a desperate measure to infiltrate occupied France and enlist people to aid the Resistance movement in their sabotage efforts, established on the assumption that women would be regarded less suspiciously than men by the Nazi occupiers. In August 1941, Vera Atkins (Stana Katic) was chosen to be the ‘spymistress’ whose job it was to select the recruits. Acting on instructions from her peers, she enlisted only attractive women - “They must be pretty”, she was told - and was responsible for providing them with the skills essential to operate behind enemy lines. The story concentrates on two of these brave women, who were polar opposites but who became heroines for putting their lives in danger for King and Country.
Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas, who also produced and wrote the script), an American who had lived in France prior to the German invasion, was determined to do her bit to protect the life she had enjoyed in Europe. She was a forthright woman, undeterred by a disability; she had a wooden leg she called ‘Cuthbert’, the consequence of a hunting accident. The other recruit the film follows, Noor Inayat Khan (Indian star Radhika Apte), was a wireless operator of Indian descent, having been born to an Indian Muslim father and an English mother. Her father practised Sufism and she was raised as a pacifist but she felt compelled to do what she could to bring about an end to the war. Given false names and identities, Virginia and Noor were smuggled into Lyon in Vichy France, where they began their important, perilous work. As we follow their exploits, there are some gripping moments that make for uncomfortable viewing as the net closes in on them. The city was where the Gestapo operated under the cruel orders of the infamous Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, ‘the Butcher of Lyon’ (played by Marc Rissmann), so the women had to be constantly on the move and could never be quite sure who to trust.
A Call To Spy is a well-documented and researched exposé of a little-known operation that played a significant role in frustrating the work of the German army in France. Pilcher has handled the portrayal well and the script, although very tense at times, never pushes the boundaries of credibility. Sarah Megan Thomas has explained that, “The history of [the] SOE is complicated and controversial. What was interesting to me to explore is the power of resistance, even in the face of possible failure, and how both small and large individual acts can make a difference. In the end, this is a movie about beginnings. The courageous individuals featured in our story put their lives on the line in the name of freedom before there was an established spy circuit - before anyone really knew what they were doing”. It was incredibly dangerous work and 13 of the 39 female agents recruited made the ultimate sacrifice, paying with their lives.
It is worth a visit to the cinema to learn about these events that have been largely ignored by history, although that is starting to change and in recent years a number of books have been written about these courageous women. A Call To Spy shows how, if it was ever in any doubt, females when put to the test are just as brave as their male counterparts and are prepared to sacrifice all for the benefit of others. Go girls!