Allied

"Allied"

Watched English film "Allied". 

This film is directed by Robert Zemeckis. Produced by Graham King Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis. Written by Steven Knight. Cinematography by Don Burgess. Music by Alan Silvestri. The film stars Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Simon McBurney, Lizzy Kaplan. This film was released in 2016. It runs for just over 2 hours. I watched in on Amazon Prime on 4th Dec 2021.

It's WW II, Wing Commander Max Vatan (Pitt), a British agent and Marianne Beauséjour (Cotillar), a French resistance fighter assassinate German Ambassador in Casa Blanca. They fall in love, marry and have a daughter. One day Max is told that his wife is a suspected German spy who has assumed identity of dead Marianne. A 72 hour Blue Dye operation is launched to apprehend her and her handler. Max too has same 72 hours to prove her innocence. 

Is the real Marianne dead? Is Max's wife an imposter? Is Marianne a German spy? Can Max prove her innocence? Are 72 hours enough?

It's a WW II drama. Director has created the old atmosphere. He presents the story well. First half of the movie is mission in Casa Blanca. He recreates beautiful WW II Casa Blanca, its Franco- Moroccan culture, its pubs and camels beautifully. Suspicion of Marianne being a spy comes mid way into the movie and the real story starts after that. I think director spends too much time on Casa Blanca leaving not enough time for the main story. 

Brad Pitt portrays the Wing Commander very well. Starting from aloof to involved to happy to incredulous to determined he portrays the transitions very well. Marion Cotillard plays the daring agent to lovelorn lady to housewife to accused. She too does decently well but portrays the agent better than other shades. Other actors only play minor roles. 

It's said, the movie is only loosely based on the supposedly true tale. It is partly fact and partly a work of fiction

This movie recovered slightly more than its production cost, so can be considered a minor commercial succes, not a hit. 

I liked the movie and liked the ending even more. The end is counter intuitive and there lies the unexpected. 

A good movie worth watching.