Name: Retro Film Review: Innocent Lies (Halcyon Days, 1995)
Item: Innocent Lies
Rating: 30
Author: @drax

(source: tmdb.org)

Europe in late 1930s was probably one of the most depressing places in the world. Inhabitants of the Continent, already exhausted by Great Depression, had additional worries in the form of incoming world war and, unlike their parents quarter of century earlier, they knew what to expect. In those dark days is set Innocent Lies a.k.a. Halcyon Days, 1995 Franco-British thriller directed by Patrick Dewolf.

The plot of the film begins in September 1938. British and French governments try to give impression that they would rather risk war than allow Hitler to butcher Czechoslovakia. While the rest of the world awaits what would happens next British police detective Alan Cross (played by Adrian Dunbar) travels to small French coastal village in order to attend the funeral of his best friend. Along the way he starts investigating the circumstances of his death and the trail leads to Graveses, British aristocratic family led by Lady Helena (played by Joanna Lumley), enthusiastic supporter of Fascism. The most remarkable member of that family is Celia (played by Gabrielle Anwar), beautiful young woman who seems to share some terrible secret with her brother Jeremy (played by Stephen Dorff). Cross' attempts to solve the mystery are complicated with the feelings he developed for Celia.

Innocent Lies is in some ways similar to Croatian film Nausikaja. Both of them are set in last days before WW2, both are slow-paced detective mysteries and both feature mysterious femme fatale. The similarity most embarrassing for director and co-writer Patrick Dewolf is irritating tendency to repeat certain shots over and over again. However, Innocent Lies is better written – characters are much more interesting, and the initial plot setting is intriguing. The acting is also better, especially in the case of Gabrielle Anwar. Her male colleagues, on the other hand, look like they belong to contemporary teen TV shows rather than period drama. Novelty of the film's theme quickly wears off and the audience is subjected to the rather predictable plot that develops with snail-like pace, making Innocent Lies much longer than its 88 minutes. The worst thing about this film is the impression that it could have been much better.

RATING: 3/10 (+)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on April 24th 2003)