Movie Info

David Hare's Broadway play--about political idealism and the way some people always need to be fighting for a cause--was credibly transferred to the s...(read more...) creen by director Fred Schepisi from Hare's screenplay. Meryl Streep (in the midst of a streak of movies that required accents) plays a British woman who fought for the French Resistance during World War II. When she returns to normal life in post-war England and marries a diplomat, she becomes something of a terror--speaking her mind when, of course, diplomacy dictates otherwise. Did she leave the best part of herself in France, where life was more meaningful and immediate? Hare's comment on Great Britain's post-war slide into Thatcherism, this film features a tough-minded (and not particularly likable) performance by Streep, who is actually quite good. It's a hard movie to embrace, but a well-made one nonetheless. --Marshall Fine

Director: Fred Schepisi

MPAA: R

Running Time: 120 min.

Release Date: Sep 19, 1985

Cast: Burt Kwouk, Charles Dance, Ian McKellen, John Gielgud, Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Sting, Tracey Ullman, Tristram Jellinek