One Against the Wind (1991) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1991
Running Time	99:30
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Larry Elikann
Studio Distributor	ViaVision	Starring	Judy Davis Sam Neill Christien Anholt Anthony Higgins Kate Beckinsale Mikush Alexander Denholm Elliott
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Lee Holdridge

     In 1940, shortly after Dunkirk and the occupation of Paris by Nazi forces, Countess Mary Lindell (Judy Davis), an Englishwoman married to a French count with two late teenaged children, Maurice (Christien Anholt) and Barbe (Kate Beckinsale in her first film role), shelters escaped Guards officer Major James Leggatt (Sam Neill) in her house and helps him across the border to return to England. No sooner has she done so than downed Allied pilots regularly start to appear at her door and so Mary sets up an escape line to get them to safety. As if that is not dangerous enough, Barbe falls in love with German officer Erich von Stultsberg (Mikush Alexander) which causes mother and daughter to become estranged.

     Mary’s activities have not, however, gone unnoticed and she is arrested by SS Captain Herman Gruber (Anthony Higgins); at her trial she is given 9 month’s solitary confinement. Maurice continues the escape line while Mary is in prison; when Mary is released she is a very sick women and with Gruber and the Gestapo after her she is spirited away to England where Leggatt, now seconded to MI9, is running agents into occupied France. Mary persuades him to allow her to return to France where she rejoins Maurice and Father LeBlanc (Denholm Elliott) running an escape line in the south of France. But with traitors around and Gruber on their trail, discovery is only a matter of time.

     One Against the Wind is based on the book No Drums . . . No Trumpets by Barry Wynne; Mary Lindell not only survived the war but won a second Croix de Guerre medal from the French government (she won her first serving in the French Red Cross in WW1). This is a TV movie and is rated PG so the brutality of Mary’s ordeal in captivity and afterwards is only hinted at; this is obviously a rather sanitised version of events. However, filmed in Luxemburg the period detail of the buildings, cars and trains gives a feel of authenticity (the film also used WW2 newsreel footage to good effect) and Judy Davis, who won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role, is excellent. Sam Neill was also nominated for a Golden Globe, but didn’t win, and in reality there is not a lot of meat in his role. One Against the Wind did win the Golden Globe for Best made for TV movie and, if you look closely, you might see a young Mark Strong as a German soldier.

     One Against the Wind is directed without fuss by Larry Elikann (his resume of 63 credits on the IMDb is all TV) and it is straight-forward, old fashioned storytelling. One feels that there is much more to the story than is on the screen but this is certainly the story of a courageous woman that deserves to be told.

Video

     One Against the Wind is in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, NTSC and not 16x9 enhanced.

     While establishing shots can look somewhat soft, mostly the print is firm, with nice natural green and blue colours in the scenes in the country and a more drab palate of grey and brown in the city. Shadow detail and blacks are solid, skin tones natural, brightness and contrast consistent. The black and white period newsreel footage does show a range of artefacts; in the film itself there are a number of tiny marks. Grain is present and nicely controlled.

     No subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
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Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224 Kbps, surround encoded, although it is only music and ambient sounds in the rears.

     Dialogue is always clear. The effects, such as the sounds of steam engines, cars and the occasional gunshot are acceptable. The score by Lee Holdridge is somewhat generic but fine.

    Lip synchronisation was fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
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Surround Channel Use
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Overall

     Nothing. The silent menu offers only “Play Feature” as an option.

     Other than a Polish release, this region free version of One Against the Wind is the only one listed on sales sites.

     One Against the Wind is a competent, if sanitised, telling of the activities of a courageous woman and her family in Nazi occupied France in WW2. It is an interesting story although the performance of Judy Davis is the main reason to watch the film.

     The video and audio are fine. There are no extras.

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Audio
Extras
Plot
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