This movie sounds wonderful

Appalling film. Judy Davis is, as always, a hard-faced, grim, hideous misery. Sam Neill is, as always, an embarrassment to acting. It has nothing but charicatures of brave, stiff upper-lipped English upper ranks, evil SS men, the ocassional "good" German and of course Davis playing herself.

No merit in it whatsoever.

Mary Lindell History for "peejoui"

During the First World War Mary Lindell was decorated for bravery and humanitarian work by France and Russia. Even Germany acknowledged her for her humanitarian work on behalf of the German prisoners of war, who had nothing but respect and admiration for her.

One Against The Wind is a biography of Mary Lindell's heroism during The Second World War. It tells of her bravery to provide assistance, at great risk to herself and her family, to anyone trying to escape from the Nazis, and especially downed Allied airmen evading the Nazis in occupied France and the French in Vichy France. The two lines of escape for downed airmen, the Comet line and the Pat line were eventually betrayed by treasonous French collaborators who provided complete details of how the escape lines operated. Many resisitance fighters went to their graves knowing that they had been betrayed by fellow countrymen. Mary Lindell barely managed to escape to her country of birth, Great Britain.

Once in Great Britain she joined MI9, a department of British Intelligence responsible for providing aid to resistance fighters, recovering Allied troops and aircrew from behind enemy lines, and communicating with British prisoners of war. In 1942, Mary Lindell returned to France and set up a new evasion and escape line, known as the Marie-Claire line. She continued to operate in France helping airmen to evade capture and returning them to their squadrons. Once again her escape line was betrayed to the Nazis by French collaborators and in a running battle with the Gestapo she was seriously wounded. Ms. Lindell was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp at the end of 1943. She survived in the camp hospital and was liberated in 1945. However, her son, Maurice, was interrogated and severely beaten and likewise her son, Oky, was interrogated, severely beaten and sent to a concentration camp where it is presumed he died. The true story of Mary Lindell is heartbreaking stuff about patriotism and sacrifice.

Actually, the horrific price Mary Lindell and her family paid for their bravery and humanity is really understated in the movie, One Against the Wind. However, one contributor with the IMDb user ID "peejoui" wrote that the movie was appalling; actress Judy Davis was hard faced, hideous and an embarrassment to acting!; that the players were nothing but "charicatures" (I assume he meant caricatures) of brave, stiff upper lipped English upper ranks (I assume that having a stiff upper lip is really bad); and complained that too many Germans in the movie were portrayed as evil. I recall that most of the Germans in this movie were SS or Gestapo, really hard core Nazis. Did you ever hear of a good Nazi? As far I'm concerned they were all Nazis. Peejoui's insidious comments indicate that he is either an ungrateful anglophobe (anglophobes always use the term English when the correct word would be British); or a francophone ashamed of the massive French collaboration with the Nazis during the war; or, most likely, a closet Nazi who is enamoured with the militarism and excesses of the Nazi Third Reich. Then again, "peejoui" could be just a old soul, unloved and alone, the result of a liaison between a German soldier and a French woman. (Records show that over 200,000 children born to French women between 1941 and 1944 had a German soldier as the father.) If so, it would almost explain "peejoui's" hatred, arrogance and anglophobia.

One Against The Wind is very entertaining movie, well acted by all. Judy Davis IS Mary Lindell and does a very fine job in her role. I only wish they could have put more of her terrific book, No Drums, No Trumpets, into this movie.

peejoui: You should never make stupid comments based on irrational bias and your hatred of a particular race to trash a movie. It makes you look insecure and very foolish.





"Who, being loved, is poor?" (Oscar Wilde)