Nancy Wake

Top telemovie about a genuine heroine from WW2. Filmed mainly in France from the look of it,with an Australian/British cast,what it lacks in production budget it makes up for in quality direction and pacing. Noni Hazlehurst is a star,with John Waters and Shane Briant giving good support;some of the minor characters are a bit lame,but overall it's well worth a look,particularly if like me you didn't know anything about Nancy Wake (a Kiwi I think)and her heroics with the French Resistance. Oz made some quality movies and TV mini-series in the 1980s,most of which have been forgotten,but many were very good viewing,and this is one of the better ones that still stands up well today.

First of all, Noni Hazlehurst did an outstanding job in this miniseries! Secondly, I am very surprised to see no other reviews here, considering this is such an amazing story. It tells the true story of a very brave Australian woman who worked alongside the French resistance as part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) against the Nazis during WW2. Nancy Wake became known as the White Mouse by the Gestapo and was at the top of their most wanted list. She once rode a bicycle 250 miles in 72 hours on a round trip through German-held territory to collect a radio in order to request supplies from the British for the resistance.

After the war, she was awarded several medals for her distinguished service, and continued to work for British intelligence after the war.

I thoroughly enjoyed this miniseries and highly recommend it to those interested in anything WW2. 9/10 from me.

Having seen the TV series on Amazon Prime I will now purchase the book. Having watched the TV version I have a hunch the script writers probably buggered up a perfectly great story as they usually do. Great acting but the script had more holes than a Swiss cheese. Although the acting was quite good I found listening to various "French men" speaking Aussie English quite grating. I suppose it should not matter but added to the script blunders it sort of ruined the show. On the technical side, there were quite a few "interlace" artifacts, as Amazon had obviously taken a copy straight from DVD. Sad that they could not have used the original film version, but I imagine it has been lost long ago or perhaps it would have been too expensive to re-master. Interlacing by the way is how video was presented on old TV's. You probably don't care and you are right it should not matter. I am just being fussy. The other factor was that scenes filmed in Australia were almost always shot in groves of pine trees to make it look like France. It fell a bit flat - but then there was probably just not enough money. Now I will read the book and see what was left out and what was added.

This was a 2 part miniseries, it should have been done in at least 3 parts. Having read her biography, there is so many incredible stories that could not be fit in. One of the most amazing woman that have ever lived. In the film she takes a bazooka to a machine gun's nest, in actuality it was a Panzer, that she took out, after 2 resistance fighters ran away. Nancy Wake was total class under the worst of conditions. She would not allow a female spy to be abused by the fighters, but she had no problem having her executed.

The movie really grabs the relationship with her husband, with great acting and writing. A husband she would stay true to, even though she would not know of his whereabouts for 3 years during the war.

She led 6,000 fighters with a no nonsense approach that the movie could have delved more into, as it was done out of total respect, for here raw courage (killing a Nazi with her bare hands, but done out of context in the movie, destroying a Panzer, and pulling off a daring attack on Gestapo HQ's), and a natural born leader.

Did I happen to mention that she was a true beauty besides? Highly recommend that one should read the biography first.

This was just okay for me. If you have read the book "Code Name Helene" you will understand my rating. This 2 part series doesn't even begin to describe what Nancy Wake's time was like in occupied France fighting for the resistance. Nor does it cover much of her personal life other than some of her relationship with Henri. Her life was so much more interesting than this series shows. It doesn't give her justice for all the hardships she suffered and all the good she did. She held her own supplying arms and ammunition to around 7,000 men. One of the main characters, and extremely important in my opinion, was left out completely. If you liked this series, please consider reading the book. So much better and more detailed. Of course I do think more often than not the book is always better, but I have had a few exceptions to this. Also the video quality is awful. All in all it was fair but I wouldn't recommend it over the book. This woman as with many other women turned the tables on WWII.