Un contre le vent

I'm a huge Judy Davis fan, so this may be biased. Anyway, this was my 2nd glimpse into the magnificent works of the great and talented Judy Davis (my first was "Life With Judy Garland" which was even better!). The way she portrays this woman is more than words can say. I love how she usually portrays women who are very spirited in what they do. The chemistry between Sam Neill and Judy Davis is wonderful, too! This was their 2nd movie together. Anyway, I'd give this 10/10!

"One Against the Wind" is an American production filmed in Luxembourg that takes place in France, stars an Australian and a New Zealander playing British citizens, and is acted almost totally in English. So, as you might imagine, authenticity is not a major strong point here. The editing also isn't quite up to standard. Scenes often move quickly from one to another, possibly to fit within a forced running time for airing. If time was such a concern, it might have been preferable to remove some scenes altogether to get a little more more breathing room. But, in spite of merely adequate TV movie standards and unimpressive direction, the script and the actors help to make it quite a good film.

Judy Davis is the real meat and guts that holds it all together. She creates a driven, tough and gritty character. It's a welcome change from all her late-career neurotic personalities, which frankly aren't very interesting. She is wholly convincing, as always, but this time as someone you can really connect with, identify with. I'm not disappointed I watched this.

In Second World War, the English Countess Mary Lindell (Judy Davis) and former Red-Cross nurse in the First World War lives in France with her son Maurice Lindell (Christien Anholt) and her daughter Barbe Lindell (Kate Beckinsale). When she sees the Major James Leggatt (Sam Neil) wounded and wandering in an occupied Paris, she does not hesitate to risk her life to save him from the Germans. This is the beginning of her support to the Allies (specially British and American soldiers) in France, helping them to escape to Spain. This true story has a powerful performance of Judy Davis in the role of a splendid woman. Mary Lindell, as presented in the film, was the guardian angel of many soldiers, saving many lives along the war. Unfortunately this is a television movie, otherwise Judy Davis should have deserved to be Oscar nominee, having such a performance. A great movie, recommended for all audiences. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Correndo Contra o Vento' (`Running Against the Wind')

This movie shows the hard work of a woman who gave everything up to help people. She put her life in danger along with her two children, but in the end she pulled through. Tear jerker, for the pain that the main character Mary went through. Judy Davis helps the viewers see what it was like during the Nazi invasion of France. Each character has their own parts to the movie and each part plays an important role. If you love Hallmark movies this is a movie to see. This movie shows what a single woman did during the invasion of France and how many peoples lives she helped save from being killed by the Nazis. So borrow this movie and watch how one woman helped save many peoples lives.

A tribute biographer of Mary Lindell. A lightweight bio to be sure but watchable and quite entertaining with an upbeat ending.