Posts Tagged ‘Dougray Scott’

IRENA’S VOW: 3 STARS. “empathetic performance from Nélisse.”

Based on a true story, “Irena’s Vow,” a new heartfelt World War II drama now playing in theatres, is a portrait of extraordinary courage in the face of tragedy.

“Yellowjackets’s” co-star Sophie Nélisse is 19-year-old Polish Catholic nurse Irena Gut Opdyke.

Forced into service by the Nazis, first at a sewing factory, then as a housekeeper for Nazi officer Major Edward Rügemer (Dougray Scott), she witnesses an act of unspeakable cruelty that changes her life. Shocked and appalled, Irena makes a vow to help the dozen Jewish tailors she befriended at the factory.

Her plan is audacious. She arranges to secret the tailors away to the basement of the German commandant’s house. If they are discovered, it would mean a death sentence, but, Irena’s hopes, who would look for them in the coal cellar of a Nazi officer?

For two years the twelve men and women live in the basement, emerging only when Rügemer is out of town. Question is, how long can they stay undetected?

“Irena’s Vow” is headlined by a committed and empathetic performance from Nélisse. As Irena improvises a daring, and years long, scheme to rescue her former co-workers, the scenario occasionally challenges credulity, but Nélisse makes sure that Irena’s compassion, bravery and intellect are present and ground the compelling story.

“Irena’s Vow” has nicely detailed period elements, and shines a light on an important hero’s story, but lacks true suspense. The story echoes the historical record, but relies on too many melodramatic moments to be truly memorable.

ENIGMA

The title refers to a code used by the Germans in WWII to direct their submarine convoys in the North Atlantic. Thought to be unbreakable, the British, working at a facility called Bletchley Park, cracked it not once, but twice. This is the story of a team of code-breakers lead by the brilliant but unstable Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott). He had recently suffered a nervous break-down after the collapse of his relationship with Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), but he is the only person clever enough to break the code and is brought back into service. At work he befriends Claire’s roommate Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet), and learns that there is more to his ex-lover than meets the eye. Enigma is a nicely crafted, intelligent thriller that builds slowly and delivers a surprising payoff. Kate Winslett has never been better, transforming herself from mousey to sex-kitten, and Saffron Burrows burns up the screen with her sex appeal.