Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38920 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

DVD Description
1943. The World is at war. Charlotte Gray, a young Scottish woman is parachuted behind enemy lines in southern France. Officially, she has been recruited by the British government to liase with the local Resistance group. Unofficially, she is searching for her lover, missing in action. As Charlotte becomes more deeply involved with the Resistance fighters, she realises that her love for France and its people will change her life forever.

Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Directors Commentary
Featurettes A Village Revisits History And Living Through Wartime
Interview With Gillian Armstrong
Interview With Cate Blanchett
Cast And Crew Interviews
TV Spots
Trailer
Deleted Scenes
Behind Enemy Lines The Real Charlotte Grays

Synopsis
CHARLOTTE GRAY is directed by Gillian Armstrong (MRS. SOFFEL, OSCAR AND LUCINDA) with her signature recipe for success--a love story set in beautiful scenery played by an all-star cast. Here, Charlotte Gray (Cate Blanchett) is a Scottish woman in mid-WWII, living with an adventuresome pair of young female roommates. While attending a snooty book publishing party, Charlotte escapes from her girlfriends long enough to meet a British pilot, Peter (Rupert Penry-Jones), with whom she falls in love. After a brief but passionate affair, Peter is sent on a mission to Nazi-occupied France where his plane is shot down and he is reported M.I.A. Torn apart by love, Charlotte enlists herself as an underground operative in the resistance and accepts a mission to rural France. Charlotte, now working under the code name Dominique, parachutes out of an airplane, and captures two young Jewish boys in her net. The man who untangles the bunch, Julien (Billy Crudup), becomes her one trusted contact, and arranges a job for her as governess to the two boys, hiding out in the chateau owned by his curmudgeonly father (Michael Gambon).
Presenting a beautiful love story complicated by WWII tension, Armstrong creates a photographically impeccable film with a strong orchestral score and a capable, utterly attractive cast. CHARLOTTE GRAY is based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks.

Customer Reviews

A Fabulous Piece
Looking at the higher proportion of reviews which pull this film to pieces in every aspect, I thought I would put a review through in the films defense.
I watched this film by accident, I can't remember how long ago, and loved it. I wasn't phased because they spoke english or any of the other criticisms levelled at this production, I loved it for what it was - a kind of, dare I say it, romanticised version of what actually happened to a lot of women who were dropped into France, and lost loved ones left right and centre. Packed with beautiful photography and contrasting disturbing images,
the most powerful part of the film being the portrayal of how the French betrayed their own country and colaberated with the Nazis - truly a stomach churning thought, plus Charlotte's realisation of "what have I gotten myself in to", panics and decides to leave - only to be stopped in her tracks at the railway station because the nazi troops all descended from the carriages - another powerful image.
The main story once Charlotte gets dropped into all the mistakes, the deceit and suspicion, is her determination to care for two little jewish boys, whose parents were taken away unbeknown to them, the heart breaking job she has to do of convincing the boys that there is nothing wrong, even down to their eventual capture by the nazis believing their parents were away "doing war work".
In all, I thought the film dealt with a lot of issues very well, and gave the viewer a sense of what these poor people had to go through, the tough decisions they were usually forced to make very quickly, and is summed up with a line from Peter; "War makes us into people we did not know we were".

Good Entertainement
Having not read Sebastian Faulks' book, I cannot compare the film with it. It seems it must have been a rather long novel, with lots of characters in it, and plenty going on. It seems the film attempts to stay faithful to the book, and so the impression one gets is that the director tried to compress a complex and multi-layered story into a couple of hours.
The story is good but very predictable bordering sometimes on caricature. But nonetheless it is all very entertaining and the actors are good. It reminded of the older 1950's and 1960's war movies, very far removed from the new and very realistic wartime dramas ("Band of brothers,...).
Certainly worth watching.

A fantastic film.....but I never read the book beforehand!
Although the film was rich in suspense, love, death and heroism in simple terms it told the story of the blossoming of the central character - from impetuous and unworldly to experienced and fully rounded.

Whilst the acting of Cate Blanchett was an undoubted highlight the film was a great ensemble piece too - Billy Crudup the American actor being a very credible "troubled" young Frenchman,Michael Gambon a solid patriach, Ron Cook a weasley British spy and the production team should be commended for creating such a believably rustic French WW2 atmosphere.

The DVD extras complimented the film well most especially the documentary about the real life British women spys active in France (SOE's)and the interview with Sebastian Faulks,who guardedly supported the production whilst insisting Blanchett played Charlotte.Though a little overegged, the featurettes/interviews with those directly involved in the making of the film were revealing: Billy Crudup is extremely choosy about his films,Cate Blanchett is a perfectionist (well there's a surprise!), Gillian Armstrong, who directs, is a really ballsy Aussie, Michael Gambon is something of a raconteur and Sebastian Faulks has a presence that would surely make him a fine actor too!

To all those who have read the book I suggest you follow Cate Blanchett's advice if you want to fully enjoy this DVD by treating the film as an entirely seperate entity.