Madeleine Goddard is a spy during WWI; she is based in neutral Stockholm, where she runs a (façade) high-fashion shop with frequent contacts with Paris. All this is certain. More uncertain is her nationality (Swiss or, as seems to be stated later in the movie, French), and, above all, which country is she working for. At the beginning it's not clear, then it appears to be Germany. Then it appears not to be Germany: and, funny fact, half the User Reviews in IMDb say she works for France, half say she works for England. I will not try to settle the question: I just wanted to make clear the confusing nature of the plot.
Baron Karl von Marwitz, a German deserter, enters Sweden: he is to become the main boyfriend of Madaleine (she had another one, before, a British one, just to add to the picture!). But wait: he is not a German deserter - we learn as the movie proceeds -, but the number-one German secret service agent in Stockholm! The couple wants to escape the horrors of the war and settle in retirement in some quiet place: Madeleine suggests the French Riviera, but.. no! There he will be on enemy land. Then they agree for Lake Garda, Italy (what?! It's enemy land for him altogether!...).
The question is somewhat settled on high sea, where, together with our heroes, a German submarine, a neutral Dutch ship (that will soon raise a British flag) and some other boats meet...
The movie seems to be made in earnest, and it's not bad as for visual and filmic effects: only, it is too unnecessarily complicated. A simpler treatment would have been better. My exact rating would be 5,75: six stars are the nearest approximation.
