This film is unusual in that it is set during the Second World War but follows the actions of a German unit; Colonel Steiner and his men have been ordered to parachute into Norfolk and kidnap Winston Churchill during a visit to the county. To enable them to pass unnoticed by the locals the unit dress in the uniforms of Polish paratroopers. They aren't the only people working for their cause in the area; there is also an Irish spy, Liam Devlin, who arrived shortly before them and Joanna Grey, a South African woman who has lived in the area for some time. Everything is going according to plan until one of the village children falls into the mill pond; one of the Germans dives in and rescues her; he is drowned though and as he is caught up on the mill wheel the German uniform he was wearing under the Polish one is exposed. Now they must take the villagers hostage in the church until Churchill arrives. One of the villagers manages to escape and alerts the Americans stationed nearby... it looks as if it is all over for the Germans but Steiner manages to escape and makes a daring attempt to get to Churchill.
It made a refreshing change to see a war film from the side of German soldiers; we are clearly meant to think of them as 'Good Germans' we even see Steiner attempt to save the life of a Jewish woman and Admiral Canaris, the man ordered by Hitler to prepare the plan went to the trouble of listing just about every major Nazi and suggesting they were mad! The acting was solid; I particularly liked Michael Caine's portrayal of Steiner and while some might have disliked Larry Hagman's portrayal of US Colonel Pitts I thought it was an entertaining portrayal of a man desperate to see action before his war was over. The only real criticism of the acting is of Donald Sutherland's Irish accent which seemed doubly bad when the character claimed to come from Belfast! The action was fairly solid and looked believable to my non-expert eye. The romantic subplot between Devlin and local girl Molly, played by Jenny Agutter, wasn't really necessary although it did serve to show he had a caring side.
If you want to watch a slightly different war film I'd certainly recommend this; and if you enjoy this I'd recommend checking out the similarly themed 'Went the Day Well'; another film about Germans taking over an English village but this time made while the war was still very much on!
It made a refreshing change to see a war film from the side of German soldiers; we are clearly meant to think of them as 'Good Germans' we even see Steiner attempt to save the life of a Jewish woman and Admiral Canaris, the man ordered by Hitler to prepare the plan went to the trouble of listing just about every major Nazi and suggesting they were mad! The acting was solid; I particularly liked Michael Caine's portrayal of Steiner and while some might have disliked Larry Hagman's portrayal of US Colonel Pitts I thought it was an entertaining portrayal of a man desperate to see action before his war was over. The only real criticism of the acting is of Donald Sutherland's Irish accent which seemed doubly bad when the character claimed to come from Belfast! The action was fairly solid and looked believable to my non-expert eye. The romantic subplot between Devlin and local girl Molly, played by Jenny Agutter, wasn't really necessary although it did serve to show he had a caring side.
If you want to watch a slightly different war film I'd certainly recommend this; and if you enjoy this I'd recommend checking out the similarly themed 'Went the Day Well'; another film about Germans taking over an English village but this time made while the war was still very much on!