But "Allied" is not merely a pastiche of elements cribbed from other, better sources. “Allied” boldly wears its influences on its impeccably tailored sleeves-not just “Casablanca” (though the two films not only share a key location but also include a key scene involving the song “La Marseillaise” and a climactic moment set at an airport) but any number of wartime dramas that one might find in regular rotation on TCM and several Alfred Hitchcock thrillers to boot. To make matters even more discomfiting, not only is Max not allowed to investigate on his own during the three days it will take to get the potentially damning evidence, he has to go on with Marianne and pretend everything is normal. If he refuses or tries to tip her off, it will lead to his execution as well. If she does turn out to be a spy, Max is required to kill her. To settle the question once and for all, he is ordered to leave some fake information lying around where she can find it-if it turns up in the next intercepted German communique, she is guilty. Max cannot believe this but the evidence, while not quite conclusive, is fairly damning. official ( Simon McBurney) that there's evidence suggesting that the real Marianne Beausejour was killed a couple of years earlier and that his wife is actually a German spy. That all comes to an abrupt end when he is called into headquarters and informed by an officious S.O.E. The story picks up a year later with Max and Marianne married and living in London with their infant daughter in as much bliss as one could possibly hope for during wartime. During their escape, Max asks Marianne to return to London with him so that they can get married. With that out of the way, they complete their mission in an equally spectacular manner. Something does get aroused between the two of them despite their professional attitudes, culminating in one of the more intriguingly staged love scenes of recent memory. Over the course of the next few days, they prepare themselves for the mission while trying to establish themselves as a loving married couple so as not to arouse any suspicion. His mission is to assassinate the German ambassador with the help of Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard), a French Resistance fighter who will be posing as his wife and who has gotten herself into the good graces of the local Nazi bigwigs. While it may not quite be the modern-day “ Casablanca,” it is nevertheless a grandly entertaining stab at old-fashioned storytelling (albeit with levels of sex, violence and profanity that they could never have gotten away with back in the day) buoyed by smart and stylish filmmaking, a good performance by Brad Pitt and an even better one from Marion Cotillard.Īs the film opens in 1942, Pitt's Canadian intelligence officer Max Vatan parachutes into North Africa and makes his way to Casablanca.
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