One of the few war films that celebrate women's heroism during WWII, "19 Girls and a Sailor" (the title of my VHS version) is set in 1943 Yugoslavia and tells the story of a group of Partisan women who are assigned to take some wounded soldiers to a safe place. Among the wounded is an important figure that the Germans are planning to capture and trade for one of their own, so they follow the group and attack them constantly. But the women are well-trained in combat too, and they get help by an only slightly wounded man who calls himself "the sailor" (Serge Gainsbourg). The film is short (about 80 minutes), simple, straightforward (there is a traitor among the group, but that is not built as much of a mystery), unpretentious, and on its own terms (there is a lot of action, but don't expect the budget of an epic), quite effective. Although the real-life couple Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg are top-billed, this is more of an ensemble movie than a vehicle for them; the women are credible as resistance fighters, and the darkly beautiful Dina Rutic is outstanding as the dependable second-in-command. Gainsbourg's most notable contribution is his appropriately elegiac music score. **1/2 out of 4.
2 Reviews
Birkin and Gainsbourg as Yugoslav partisan fighters: sorry, no suspension of disbelief!
guy-bellinger4 March 2021
A group of 19 young women, led by a commander of the Yugoslav resistance, are the only people available to escort a number of wounded partisans into the mountain ranges where the Nazis are swarming. The crossing of difficult tracks, and some encounters with enemy patrols are sources of danger, and of death for some heroines. Two girls are in love with the Resistance leader, but the love of the motherland and freedom will triumph.
There are more than one Yugoslavian films about the resistance against the Nazis. This one has a peculiarity that could set it apart from all others, the number of female partisans in it far exceeds the number of male ones. One could then watch this war film, banal in spite of everything, with a polite semi-indifference (its battle scenes are passable), if it were not for the fact that in the French dubbed version, the so-called Yugoslav she-warrior has an English accent (normal, it's Jane Birkin!). As for her partner, both in real life and on the screen, Serge Gainsbourg, he might be a little more credible if he were not so well known and if he were dubbed by himself and not by a calamitous freelancer. Sorry but in these conditions the suspension of disbelief is... out of order ! The result is a film claiming to be dramatic but in the end proves most comical.
There are more than one Yugoslavian films about the resistance against the Nazis. This one has a peculiarity that could set it apart from all others, the number of female partisans in it far exceeds the number of male ones. One could then watch this war film, banal in spite of everything, with a polite semi-indifference (its battle scenes are passable), if it were not for the fact that in the French dubbed version, the so-called Yugoslav she-warrior has an English accent (normal, it's Jane Birkin!). As for her partner, both in real life and on the screen, Serge Gainsbourg, he might be a little more credible if he were not so well known and if he were dubbed by himself and not by a calamitous freelancer. Sorry but in these conditions the suspension of disbelief is... out of order ! The result is a film claiming to be dramatic but in the end proves most comical.
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