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SYNOPSIS __________
Plot:
In a time torn apart by hatred and violence, two lifelong
lovers are forced to choose between passion and personal convictions,
their fate intertwined with the painful history of a world
at war.
Irish born Guy (Townsend) is the son of a policeman, on scholarship
at Cambridge University in 1933. On a rainy night, his door
bursts open and beautiful Gilda Bess (Theron) enters his life.
The daughter of a French aristocrat raised by her American
mother, Gilda is somewhat notorious for her affairs, and quiet
Guy lets her spend the night, treating her with respect and
humor. Later, at a party, they become lovers, but Guy can't
believe it will last. The death of her mother prompts Gilda
to leave England, and Guy is amused years later when he spots
her as an extra in a Hollywood film.
Gilda writes to Guy, inviting him to Paris, where she is a
rising star in the art scene with her unusual photography.
She lives with the beautiful, Spanish-born model, Mia (Cruz)
and has a number of lovers, but soon Guy has moved in, and
life in Paris seems ideal, perfect. But it is now 1936, the
height of the Spanish Civil War: Guy has always supported
the Republican Army, and as Franco's fascists make gains,
Guy and Mia both find themselves drawn towards the conflict.
Gilda does not concern herself with politics, or history:
"There will always be wars," she tells her friends,
"you need to get rid of the guilt." Despite Gilda's
pleas, Guy and Mia leave Paris and go to Spain. He learns
to fight, she is a nurse: they cross paths one night, and
Mia admits that she was Gilda's secret lover before making
love to Guy. In the morning, she is killed by a land mine.
Guy returns to Paris, but Gilda shuns him.
Six years later, Guy is working for British intelligence,
serving as a spy with the underground in occupied Paris. He
is surprised to learn that Gilda is still living in her old
flat but has taken a Nazi officer (Thomas Kretschmann) as
a lover. He risks himself and his underground unit to spend
a night with her, but in the morning she insists that their
affair is over, and she will never see him again. Stunned
at her coldness, he returns to his work D-Day is approaching,
and the resistance must be ready. Expecting to meet a contact,
he instead arrives at a cafe to find Gilda: she warns him
that the meeting is a trap and helps him escape. Guy is aghast
that she has taken sides, but he has no time to thank her.
That night, he and his comrades destroy a rail station, but
only Guy gets away.
When Guy returns to London, he learns that Gilda's association
with British intelligence extends back several years. Now,
with the occupation over, those deemed traitorous to France
are being rounded up publicly humiliated, and worse and Gilda
knows that she will be taken as a Nazi sympathizer. Braving
the fighting in the streets, Guy returns to Paris to find
Gilda, racing against time and history hoping to reunite with
his love one last time.
DETAILS__________
Studio:
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date:
September 17, 2004 (NY/LA)
RELATED LINKS__________
OFFICIAL SITE: Charlize Theron's Official Website
www.charlizetheron.com/ --- CLICK
HERE |
