Distributed by

Cert:

Cat.no: 05661 DVD

Running time: 127 minutes

Year: 1992

Pressing: 2001

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 15 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Languages: English

Subtitles: 11 languages available

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 9

Price: £15.99

Extras: Trailer, Featurette, Video Clips of Cast and Crew

Director:

David Seltzer (Lucas, Punchline, Shining Through)

Producer:

Howard Rosenman and Carol Baum

Screenplay:

David Seltzer (based on the novel by Susan Isaacs)

Music:

Michael Kamen

Cast:

Ed Leland: Michael Douglas
Linda Voss: Melanie Griffith
Franze-Otto Dietrich: Liam Neeson
Margrete Von Eberstien: Joely Richardson
Sunflower: John Gielgud
Dietrich's daughter: Victoria Shalet

Set during World War II, in 1940, Ed Leland (Michael Douglas) hires Linda Voss (Melanie Griffith) as his new secretary, but little by little she twigs that he's actually a spy and persuades him to help her go undercover in a bid to stop dastardly German official Franze-Otto Dietrich (Liam Neeson) by ingratiating herself into his family as a maid and then seeing what develops from there (other than the pictures taken with her spy camera).

Told in flashback, as being recorded for a BBC documentary, the wartime depictions of life at the time seem depressingly realistic but I'm sure some historian would pick holes in it. The film also stars Joely Richardson, Brit child actress Victoria Shalet (The Queen's Nose) as Neeson's daughter and the late John Gielgud as German spy Sunflower, complete with dodgy accent.

There's a reasonable chemistry between Douglas and Griffith, this being their first film together according to the trailer, but would you believe Melanie Griffith as a spy prying deep into places where she shouldn't? No, neither can I but it's two hours of entertaining fluff.

One of the corniest lines of dialogue in Shining Through comes when Griffith says: "I know it was on a Friday when Ed and I said goodbye, because the next day was Saturday...". Hmm...

The film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and is anamorphic. Most of the time it looks very good with the occasional print fleck and scratch, but while it has an overall feel that lacks impact, I think that's intentional given that it's a period piece.

Soundwise, it's thankfully been given a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. It doesn't get used a great deal most of the time, but Michael Kamen's classical score is impressive.

There are some extras, but they are scant. Starting with a 4:3 Trailer running for 2 minutes, a 4-minute Featurette which blends in clips from the film with a few comments from the cast and crew, as well as Video Clips of Cast and Crew, ie. more of the same soundbites in extended form, but only lasting one or two minutes apiece for a few people.

There are only 15 chapters which isn't enough for a 2hr+ film, menus are static but the main one contains a snippet of the score over the top and there are subtitles in 11 languages: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and English for the hearing impaired.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.