Island at War
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| Island at War | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Drama |
| Running time | approx. 398 min |
| Executive producer(s) | Sita Williams |
| Starring | James Wilby Clare Holman Owen Teale Julia Ford Phillip Glenister Saskia Reeves |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Original channel | ITV |
| No. of episodes | 6 (UK) 5 (US) |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Island at War is a British-made telefilm that also aired on American television in the form of a Masterpiece Theatre miniseries. It premiered in the UK on July 11, 2004, and in the US on January 23, 2005. The series tells the story of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands, and primarily focuses on three local families: the upper-class Dorrs, the middle-class Mahys and the working-class Jonases, and four German officers. The fictional island of St. Gregory serves as a stand-in for the real-life islands Jersey and Guernsey, and the story is compiled from the events on both islands.
"Island at War" had an estimated budget of £9,000,000 (about US$16,000,000) and was filmed on location in the Isle of Man from August 2003 to October 2003. When the film was shown in the UK, it appeared in six 70-minute episodes. During its run on American television, however, it was presented in five 90-minute installments.
Contents |
[edit] Cast of Characters
[edit] The Islanders
[edit] James Dorr
James Dorr is a member of the St. Gregory Senate, and is the deputy bailiff of the island’s government. His family is well-known and respected; both his father and grandfather have served as Bailiff. He loves his wife Felicity, but often finds that she gets in his way. He sent his son Phillip to England to go to school, something that Felicity never quite forgave him for.
James takes his job in the Senate very seriously, and works hard to ensure that the transition into Occupation is as painless as possible for his fellow islanders. He knows full well that the Germans are capable of killing every single person on St. Gregory, and he encourages his friends and family to avoid stirring up the waters for fear of German retaliation. He is suspicious of his wife’s relationship with Baron Von Rheingarten, and doesn’t trust either of them completely. When Phillip and La Salle arrive on St. Gregory to gather information, James worries that their presence may invite resistance; his sense of duty to St. Gregory tends to cloud his judgment.
James Dorr was played by James Wilby.
[edit] Felicity Dorr
Felicity is James Dorr’s wife. She is good friends with Urban Mahy, and the two perform in a theatre troupe on St. Gregory (AmDrams, likely a portmanteau of Amateur Dramatists). Felicity is not a native of St. Gregory; she was born and educated in England. She and James conceived a child the night they met, and were married very quickly afterward. Felicity does not terribly enjoy living on St. Gregory, finding island life boring and stuffy. She is, however, very devoted to her husband James, especially after the occupation begins.
Felicity misses her son Phillip terribly, and is delighted when he returns to St. Gregory to gather information for the war effort. She forms a rather uneasy friendship with Baron Von Rheingarten, and the two often sit outside at night and talk. This makes James suspicious of both of them, despite Felicity’s refusal of the Baron’s advances. Felicity does not quite share her husband’s loyalty to St. Gregory itself, but rather to her friends and family on the island.
Felicity Dorr was played by Clare Holman.
[edit] Wilf Jonas
Wilf Jonas was played by Owen Teale.
[edit] Kathleen Jonas
Kathleen was born on 22 January 1904.
Kathleen Jonas was played by Julia Ford.
[edit] Sheldon Leveque
Sheldon Leveque was played by Sean Gallagher.
[edit] Cassie Mahy
Cassie Mahy was played by Saskia Reeves.
[edit] Urban Mahy
Urban Mahy is the near-polar opposite of his wife Cassie. His wife inherited the the grocery store from her parents, and Urban never quite got used to Cassie being the family breadwinner. He is delighted, therefore, when Mr. Isaaks offers to give his camera shop to Urban when the former evacuates St. Gregory. He is several years younger than Cassie, but she acknowledges him as the head of the household. He is good friends with Felicity Dorr, and the two are members of the local thespian club, AmDrams. Urban loves Cassie deeply, but they often disagree on issues such as business and child-rearing. Urban was killed when the Germans bombed the harbor, and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Urban Mahy was played by Julian Wadham.
[edit] Angelique Mahy
Angelique is the elder of Urban and Cassie Mahy's two daughters. She works for James Dorr in the Senate. Compared to her sister June, Angelique is much more aggressive toward the Germans. She is absolutely against their presence on St. Gregory, and refuses to cooperate with them when she can. When she and June take over Mr. Isaaks' camera shop, Angelique is against removing the former owner's name from the store window, as it would been having to cater to the soldiers.
Later on, Angelique finds herself in a moral dilemma; she begins to develop romantic feelings for a German soldier. Because Angelique cares so much about what others--especially her mother and sister--think of her, she initially refuses to admit her feelings to herself.
Angelique Mahy was played by Joanne Frogatt.
[edit] June Mahy
June is the younger of Urban and Cassie Mahy's two daughters. A girl of seventeen, June often sings at a local nightclub. When the Germans arrive, June truly does not know how to act. Her mother and sister believe that the Germans are evil and to be avoided, June cannot help but treat them like ordinary people. Being friendly with the Germans eventually gets June into trouble, and she becomes branded a "Jerrybag" by some of her fellow islanders.
June Mahy was played by Samantha Robinson.
[edit] Phillip Dorr (aka Mr. Brotherson)
Phillip Dorr was played by Sam Heughan.
[edit] Zelda Kay
Zelda Kay is a German Jew who escaped the country with her mother in 1933. They settled in England, and Zelda found work as a nanny. The family she worked for often spent their summers in St. Gregory, and that's where Zelda found herself when war broke out in September 1939. Since she was a German national, she was not allowed back into Britain. Stranded on St. Gregory, Mr. Isaaks befriended her, gave her a job in his shop and found a flat for her to rent.
As a German invasion becomes more of a certainty, Zelda makes arrangements to evacuate St. Gregory, but ultimately misses the last boat. Stranded again, Zelda continues to work in the camera shop, though now for Angelique and June Mahy. As a Jewish woman living among Nazi soldiers, Zelda tries very hard to keep her secret. Unfortunately, she catches the eye of Oberleutnant Walker, and must continually reject his advances. As the occupation continues, Zelda must go into hiding to avoid her secret being made known.
Zelda Kay was played by Louisa Clein.
[edit] The Germans
[edit] Baron Heinrich Von Rheingarten
Baron Von Rheingarten was played by Phillip Glenister.
[edit] Captain Muller
Captain Muller was played by Daniel Flynn.
[edit] Oberleutnant Walker
Oberleutnant Walker was played by Conor Mullen.
[edit] Airman Bernhardt Tellemann
Bernhardt Tellemann was played by Laurence Fox.
[edit] Minor Characters
[edit] Eugene La Salle
Eugene La Salle was played by Richard Dempsey.
[edit] Ada Jonas
Ada Jonas was played by Ann Rye.
[edit] Colin Jonas
Colin Jonas was played by Sean Ward.
[edit] Episode Synopses
[edit] Episode One
In the opening scene a St. Gregory fisherman (later revealed to be chief constable Wilf Jonas) is lobstering off the coast of Normandy when he encounters a British patrol fleeing the Battle of Dunkirk. He agrees to rescue them but as the soldiers swim to his boat they are cut down by German machine-gun fire.
Back at the St. Gregory Parliament the Bailiff is reassuring the senate that France's surrender to Nazi Germany (June 18, 1940) and the occupation of the Norman Peninsula, just 8 miles across the channel, will not affect life on agrarian St. Gregory when it is announced that the British, rather than reinforcing their garrison, are withdrawing completely to leave the island defenseless. The showing of the newsreel of the Wehrmacht marching beneath the Arc de Triomphe, sparks public and private debate whether to remain as patriots ("fleeing would be treachery") or evacuate by boat to safety in England.
As the German invasion looms the aging Bailiff and Senator Dorr speak from the balcony of Parliament, urging calm but neither endorsing nor discouraging an official evacuation. The news strains (or breaks) family relations among the Dorrs, Mahys and Jonases, and erodes social order; looting and profiteering take hold and there is a run on the bank.
Tragedy strikes when the Luftwaffe, having mistaken the tomato lorries parked by the pier for troop carriers, strafes and bombs the port, killing several dozen, including Urban Mahy. A German reconnaissance plane then drops leaflets announcing the protocol for the island's surrender: white flags hung from every structure.
The Dorrs, now reconciled, the Mahys, lead by the widow Cassie, and the Jonases, having discovered that their son still on the island (only the daughter evacuated), await the German occupation with the resolve to carry on.
In the final sequence we meet Baron Heinrich Von Rheingarten, the German Commandant who arrives with a battalion of landsers to take possession of St. Gregory "in the name of the Chancellor of the Third Reich". He quickly establishes his credentials as a cultured member of the old Prussian aristocracy, through his courteous treatment of his presumptive peers, the Dorrs, and an appreciation for the local architecture. An efficient officer (he wastes no time in requisitioning the Bailiff's car and "finest hotel on the island" (the St. George) for his staff) he also finds humor in his chauffeur's confusion with the right hand drive on the vehicle, "other side, Muller".
In the final scene he addresses the assembled German troops from the balcony of the Parliament building, now draped in swastikas. His Nazi salute and accompanying "Heil Hitler" strike an ominous note and close the episode.
[edit] Episode Two
In general the episode introduces the German-Islander interpersonal relationships to be developed. The opening shots comprise a montage of island life under occupation: Urban Mahy's funeral procession behind a handcart, the Dorrs getting around on bicycles, soldiers smoking in the main square. In a scene reminiscent of Hal Ashby's "Harold and Maude", a marching band, playing Jaromir Vejvoda's "Beer Barrel Polka", passes below the church just as Urban Mahy is being interred. As the music cannot be ignored, June Mahy, his daughter, begins to sing along hesitantly, then with growing conviction as first her mother, followed by the the other mourners, join in. The moment is transformed from maudlin to poignant.
The first meeting of Baron Heinrich Von Rheingarten and Senator James Dorr follows, setting up their ideological and personal conflict as one of the series' major themes. Their respective agenda: redressing grievances (Dorr) and acknowledgment of Germans' humanity/superiority (Von Rheingarten), while not mutually exclusive, find them initially talking at cross-purposes.
Urban Mahy's wake provides the opportunity for dialog framing secondary plot-lines: Sheldon Leveque attempts to ingratiate himself with Cassie Mahy whose cooperation will abet his war profiteering, Cassie in turn accuses Felicity Dorr of pursuing an affair with her late husband (they were both members of the island's thespian club), and handsome Captain Muller arrives with two landsers and impresses June Mahy by having them apologize to the family for accosting them in the street. Meanwhile on the cliff overlooking a secluded beach Baron Von Rheingarten impresses upon Senator Dorr the rigor of German military discipline: "My men whom you see now frolicking below would slaughter each other in a minute if I so ordered it". James challenges this assertion, the Baron counters ominously, "Actually, I do know [they would]". They return to the the Dorr residence where Felicity Dorr snubs the Baron's social advances. He retaliates by requisitioning the unused wing of their home for himself and senior staff. This begins the Baron Von Rheingarten/James Dorr rivalry for Felicity's attentions, fueled in part by James' confronting her privately with his own false suspicions about an affair with Urban Mahy.
The clandestine arrival of the Dorr son, Phillip, and compatriot Eugene La Salle, now both recruited as British reconnaissance agents, brings the war home to the island. Masquerading as "Mr. Brotherson", a day-laborer on his parents estate, Phillip quickly finds himself "walling" (the lost art of building without mortar) alongside the Baron (in rolled-up shirt-sleeves) who displays an almost paternal affection for the young man.
After Cassie Mahy refuses to sell groceries to German soldiers, she must face Leutnant Walker who purports to teach her a lesson in the economics of occupation. Intimating that food is scarce throughout Europe, he challenges her on moral grounds. He is also responsible for promulgating Nazi anti-semitic agenda on the island. Not all the Germans are evil, however, and we soon meet airman Bernhardt Telleman, who urges the Mahy daughters, now running a camera shop they inherited when its Jewish owner evacuated, to serve German soldiers because "We live here now like you, and hard as it may be to believe, we are people too". After convincing the girls to accept his business he is visibly pleased to formally introduce himself merely as "Bernhardt" and crosses the street with a bounce in his step.
The Baron and Felicity share a frank, almost intimate, moment in the Dorr garden. With faces bathed in moon and lamplight, he offers her chocolates but warns her that his soldiers are "an invading army - men without women" who will sooner or later become "ravenous wolves".
The episode closes on a note of violence: Eugene and Phillip, having completed their Reconnaissance mission, are awaiting extraction by submarine on the beach, when they encounter, and kill, a landser on patrol. The machine-gun fire raises the alarm and the pair must conceal the body and evade capture in a house-to-house search mounted by the Germans. Phillip guides Eugene, suffering from hypothermia, to refuge in the Jonas' barn. Again the Baron has the last word to the Dorrs, "I cannot tell you how serious this is - I should hope this doesn't mean .. resistance."
[edit] Episode Three
With most of the garrison mobilized to find the missing landser, Wilf Jonas takes the body out on his fishing boat, dumping it in deep water. Upon his return to port we meet Oberleutnant Flach, the presumptive political officer whose suspicions are aroused by such a long voyage, ostensibly to set lobster pots. Phillip and the now-feverish Eugene remain in hiding in the Jonas barn; a perilous situation, Wilf explains to Felicity, as "it is only a matter of time" before they are found, consigning the family to death for harboring an enemy agent.
Invited to a special session of the Senate, the Baron snubs the Bailiff's attempt to appease him and forestall a reprisal, "10 islanders killed for every German life", and promises to "shoot on sight anyone found on the beaches [at night]". Back at the Dorr residence, now serving as his HQ, he cautions them privately, "We [are not] playing at war."
Meanwhile on the beach Collin Jonas and his friend Ronald mischievously run off with uniforms and gear doffed while the Germans play volleyball. The ensuing pursuit is broken off when a British reconnaissance aircraft flies over dropping leaflets. Collin runs into an alley where his uncle Sheldon is attempting to sell a car of dubious provenance to Oberwachtmeister Wimmel, the German quartermaster sergeant. Back at the camera shop Leutnant Walker meets, and is instantly enamored with Zelda Kay. Unaware of her Jewish heritage he insists that she escort him to the officers' party at the 50/50 Club. Under the guise of patronizing the camera shop Bernhardt pursues a courtship with Angelique by offering her eggs, "I tried to buy you chocolates but they were out".
When Felicity Dorr visits her son Phillip and Eugene La Salle at the Jonas' barn, it also affords an opportunity to share a moment of maternal sympathy with Kathleen, Wilf's wife. Bernhardt Telleman again visits the shop but Zelda is there instead and tells him that the German air-raid on the port killed Angelique's father. He buys flowers to lay at the grave and, as luck would have it, finds her also at the cemetery. When she ignores him he chastises her: "... you won't see past the uniform . . I studied law, I am not a ... fighting man .. do you think I want to kill your people?"
That evening at the 50/50 Club Leutnant Walker, having forced Zelda to accompany him, tries in vain to create the mood of a double date when he is joined by Captain Dieter Muller and June, who sings regularly at the club. Meanwhile James and Felicity Dorr try to persuade Eugene La Salle to "hand himself in to the German military" as prisoner of war having escaped from occupied France.
The next morning Wilf is conscripted to serve as the Baron's chauffeur while Sheldon traffics in black-market produce. Oberwachtmeister Wimmel wants in on the profits and blackmails Cassie into a partnership.
That afternoon Felicity finds the Baron in her garden, whom she accuses him of having "no respect for our privacy". "There's a corner of my vineyard," he replies, "which has a wall that was once part of an abbey. I ... sit there late at night, always alone." The arrival of Senator Dorr breaks the mood and the Baron confronts him with his suspicions about Eugene La Salle's true identity, obtained by Captain Muller from Ada, Wilf Jonas' mother.
Again the Baron has the last word, indirectly implicating Phillip in an espionage plot.
[edit] Episode Four
At the barracks prison Oberleutnant Flach interrogates, and then orders beaten, Eugene La Salle, based on an inadvertent tip from Wilf Jonas' mother who saw the "spitting image of Eugene and another boy" in her tomato fields. Eugene doesn't break and the Baron will not let Flach use force on Senator Dorr, Kathleen Jonas, or any islander to uncover the plot. "You are to be careful with them - use your imagination, Flach." James, though horrified by Eugene's fate, "to be shot as a spy", will not give in to the Baron's demand that islanders work to extend the runway at the German airbase.
Back at Parliament, Angelique Mahy, who works as the Senator's aide, hints at her knowledge of Phillip's complicity. James' perfunctory denial is interrupted by Flach who needs the Senator's signature on work passes for newly-arrived French prostitutes waiting on the docks. Looking pointedly at Angelique, he implies he is doing the local women a favor by relieving them of the job. When Angelique brings their papers to the dock the guards mistake her for one and Bernhardt, coincidentally on scene, surreptitiously bribes the sergeant to release her.
Felicity engineers a moment alone with the Baron and attempts to use his attraction to her as leverage to dissuade him from "murdering" Eugene La Salle. The "death is needed", counters the Baron, to dispel the "cosiness" of the occupation and remind the populace "who has the power and that landsers matter".
His usual methods prohibited by the Baron, and threats having been proved ineffective, Flach trys to break Kathleen Jonas' spirit by quarantining her in hospital, under the pretext of transmitting syphilis to German soldiers. Meanwhile Senator Dorr pleads with Rheingarten, confessing to masterminding the ruse of Eugene's "surrender" and offering his own life in exchange for La Salle's. The Baron refuses with "Don't ever tell [Flach] what you have just told me".
Over tea Bernhardt opens up to Angelique and makes the argument, both on his own behalf as her suitor, and for millions of young Germans, and English alike:
"We have no choice [in the war], either of us, any of us." (cf "Just following orders") "There shouldn't be a war . . . Hitler has been the worst possible thing for our country". Yet "I [must fight] until it is my turn to die".
She is visibly moved and allows his accidental touch to linger on her hand. By contrast Captain Muller takes a "strictly business" approach to obtaining the companionship of June Mahy: "I pay for my laundry, car repairs, haircuts etc. - I would merely like to pay you for singing at my party"
At La Salle's execution by firing squad, Constable Jonas witnesses Leutnant Walker administer the Coup de grâce and Mr. Brotherson/Phillip, on the grounds to work, hears and is sickened by the shots. The Baron offers his regrets to Felicity, and almost fatherly words of advice to Phillip.
Back at the Mahy shop War profiteering is in full swing with Cassie, now not above Price gouging, is officially the retail side of the operation while Oberwachtmeister Wimmel and Sheldon Leveque handle the supply and distribution. Meanwhile Leutnant Walker continues to force himself on Zelda, "ordering" her to accompany him to the Officers party at 'Sous la Chenes', (the Dorr's ancestral home, also doubling as the Baron's HQ) that evening.
Word of La Salle's execution spreads, creating emotional drama among the Mahys. Angelique, tormented by her secret love for Telleman, explains to her mother that they do in fact "feel [their father's loss] deeply", but because she (Cassie) continues to act "contained and efficient ... so focused on running the shop and house [without] giving in [to grief]" they (the sisters), can only grieve when she is not around.
That evening at the officers' party, next door to the Dorrs, Von Rheingarten ignores the provocative glances from a young woman and orders Leutnant Walker not to let any of "that sort go upstairs and mix with the officers". Undeterred, Walker drags a girl into the Dorr's garden shed and is assaulting her when Felicity makes her presence known, thwarting the rape. Drunk and frustrated he goes to Zelda's flat and sings outside the door until she lets him in. He blames his misbehavior at the party on her refusal to accompany him, "I am so bloody lonely - I just want a girl that I can respect". She most emphatically tells him that "[she]is not that sort of girl, and if you respect me you'll leave now". After kissing her hand, "I am so glad we are going to get to each other better", he does leave.
Wilf, tasked to drive June home from the party, is sarcastic to the point of cruelty, calling her a trollop, "Party, drinks, singing, dance the night away, and paid into the bargain". Inside the house Zelda, is hiding out from Walker and June tells them both she doesn't care anymore if anyone, including their mother, thinks she is fraternizing with the enemy. "Say [to her] I spent the evening with a bunch of murderers who just come from shooting Eugene. And tell her how much I enjoyed it."
When the Baron attempts to be cordial towards Mrs. Dorr, and she responds with indignation at his shooting Eugene, he explicitly states another of the series' themes: "That weight of righteousness is very heavy, Mrs. Dorr. Keep up this moral indignation, and come the war's end you'll have drowned in it." The execution, he claims saved lives by deterring further resistance and calls the English hypocritical for affecting sentiment when "You're as bloody as any race on earth." The argument escalates and the Baron raises his voice, bringing the Senator who, this time, is ready to fight for his wife.
Wilf, wracked with guilt at being helpless to save, or even comfort Eugene in his last moments of life, is consoled by Kathleen. The next morning Angelique meets Bernhardt at the beach. Resigned to continuing the argument he protests, "I'm not your enemy". This time she takes his hand, "Of course you are, Bernhardt, of course you are". Their kiss is immediately followed by the closing credits.
[edit] Episode Five
In a break from the more comfortable drama of the first four episodes, Director Peter Lydon and writer Stephen Mallatratt show us glimpses of war's extremes: Germany's darkest years, and "Britain's finest hour". Juxtaposing acts of personal heroism and self-sacrifice with despicable institutional cowardice, characters jettison firmly-held principles in the face of economic necessity, and draw upon unimaginable strength to endure the unendurable.
Quick scenes advance the plot lines: Leutnant Walker, obsessed with Zelda, corners her on the beach and continues to interpret her blunt, even insulting, refusals to see him as playing hard to get. Angelique is unable to face her mother, Cassie, and confess her love for Bernhardt. Senator Dorr must face the grieving parents of Eugene La Salle, but is wracked with guilt and cannot disclose his full role in their son's death. Yet he does risk open confrontation with the Baron, who would order the La Salles arrested just for visiting the execution site in the Dorr garden. Mrs. Dorr pleads on the La Salles' behalf. When the Baron's response, "There is no compassion [in war]" visibly, and deeply, hurts her, he offers to "record in which place of unmarked wasteland he's being buried and let [the La Salles] know after the war". Phillip Dorr now feels compelled to complete his mission so that Eugene would not have "died in vain". Angelique receives a note from Bernhardt who, about to go on a raid, promises to drop his bombs "into the sea or on fields".
In a reference to Director Alan Parker's 1982 film of Pink Floyd's The Wall, Angelique watches "the promise of a brave new world unfurl beneath a (not so) clear blue sky" as Bernhardt's Heinkel HE-11 bomber wing flies over the island en route to England's south coast. (While almost certainly unintentional the shot also has an eerie similarity to the "Flying Monkeys" scene from the Wizard of Oz - Fans of both note the band's connection to the film).
The tolling of the church bell sets up the reference to Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 masterpiece, The Battleship Potemkin and it's Odessa Steps sequence: the islanders mount an act of Nonviolent resistance and convene at the square in front of the German HQ to keep silent vigil and mourn La Salle. It is the second (of three) moments of decision for the Baron, who must look down from the balcony into the eyes of those he is about to have shot: Wilf, Felicity and Mr. Brotherson/Phillip. In a brilliant Double entendre the vicar, played by Malatratt himself, and James Dorr, simultaneously admire the Baron's "handling of the situation", and step through the "fourth wall" to praise the Homage to great Russian director by David Higgs, Cinematographer, and Peter Lydon, director.
Sheldon Leveque agrees to help Phillip spy and Cassie has misgivings about taking Oberwachtmeister Wimmel (who doesn't know "whether he is married or not") as her business partner. Constable Jonas turns a blind eye to Kathleen and Sheldon's circumventing German meat-rationing regulations, and states "There's no law anymore - there's just their rules, and that's no law". Higgs and Lydon extract levity from epiphany as Jonas crams a Baguette into his mouth, transforming into the subject at hand, the pig about to be butchered.
Leutnant Walker forces Zelda to come the movies with him and watch the infamous Nazi anti-semitic propaganda film, Jud Süß. On screen we see the rape of a Christian woman by the Jew, "Seuss", and his ceremonious lynching. Ironically the "fate-knocking-at-the-door" opening motif of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony has come to represent the European resistance movement, and the islanders voice their disapproval by tapping this rhythm. Walker threatens to have the theater closed and a last "tap tap tap tap" amuses the film-goers, in stark contrast to the horrors on-screen.
More quick scenes: The Baron plays at being Phillip's father, proudly commenting to Felicity about "Mr. Brotherson's" improvement in wall-building under his tutelage. He admonishes both against further participation in acts of (even) passive resistance. Angelique is distressed by a radio broadcast announcing the RAF's routing of a flight of Heinkels cossing approaching the coast and shooting down thirty of them over the channel. June is conflicted: "150 fewer Germans in the islands" yet they're "people too ... young men ... who are not just numbers once you've met them", which, ironically, she urges her sister to do. Over dinner the Jonas' extended family receive word from their daughter, Mary, that she is safe in England, and Wilf and comes to blows with his father-in-law Harry for implying he is "collaborating with the enemy".
Mallatratt re-characterizes Bailiff Francis La Palotte, heretofore portrayed as a well-meaning old man poised to enter dotage, as the Poster boy for European complacency at the beginning of the Holocaust. In meeting of the island senate he urges acquiescence to the "German High Command in Paris" who have ordered registration of all Jews on the island, and confiscation of their property. His placating words deeply offend James Dorr, who alone speaks out against "despicable rules that we must object to in the strongest possible terms for the sake of common humanity, lest we be indistinguishable from beasts." And then in a reference to "First they came...", an anti-Nazi poem by German pastor Martin Niemöller:
"This isn't about Jews, it's about denying people the right to exist. It's about training humanity to live as wolves and prey on its own. You realize once they've done it they can change the target.. Slavs? Poles? Us?"
Director Lydon drives home the point with inter-cuts of the "debate" and Leutnant Walker arresting the few Jews that remain on the island.
The other shoe falls when Leutnant Walker, discovers Zelda Kay's true identity as Hannah Kozminsky. After playing cat and mouse with her, he uses the threat of sending her to die in a labor camp as leverage to force her sexual compliance. "You are a very lucky girl", he coos, leaving unsaid, "because I will keep you alive as my mistress". Naked, yet unashamed, she stands before him, his tender voice stomach-turning, "You are so beautiful ... I never would have known you were Jewish", evoking the quiet horror of Roberto Benigni's 1997 masterpiece, "Life is Beautiful" and recalling moments from "Schindler's List" and "Sophie's Choice"
Cutting from the grotesques of lust, to the tragedy/glory of star-crossed lovers, Angelique discovers that Bernhardt Telleman has survived the ill-fated mission that claimed the lives of his compatriots.
Meanwhile Walker is searching for Hannah/Zelda who has gone into hiding above Cassie's grocery store. When he suspects Cassie and June of aiding her disappearance the daughter bluffs convincingly, earning her mother's respect for the first time since the occupation. Felicity pleads with Angelique to stop risking her life, and Phillip's, by assisting his espionage. "I don't intend to stand side-by-side with your mother at your (pl) funerals". When she goes on, "I suppose there comes a point when the hating has to stop ...there are decent young men among them...who [must] act under orders just like we do", Angelique seizes the moment to profess her love for Bernhardt, convincing her that he would never expose Phillip as a spy if he found out.
"To Favors Returned" toasts Oberwachtmeister Wimmel over wine and truffles, a simultaneously clever and tasteless pun: Cassie trades her sexual favors for the economic benefits her association with the German quartermaster supply sergeant brings.
The episode closes with a reference to Anne Frank and The Diary of a Young Girl as Cassie, bringing food to Hannah/Zelda hiding in a secret room above the shop, interrupts her writing in a journal.
[edit] Episode Six
June is singing for a mixed crowd at the "50/50 Club" which turns ugly when Captain Muller switches places with her regular piano accompanist. "Jerry bag! Jerry bag!" taunts one, throwing a glass that cuts her cheek. The soldiers drag him into the alley where Leutnant Walker pistol-whips him unconscious. With the blood still on his hands, he sits with June and implores her to disclose Hannah/Zelda's location so he can help her assume a new identity. Meanwhile Angelique's feelings have won over her nervousness about sleeping with the enemy and she and Bernhardt rendezvous in Hanna/Zelda's flat. When Angelique, facing him in bed afterwards says, "I love you", Bernhardt looks hurt for a moment before replying, "I wanted to say 'I love you' first." June finds them together, after she ducks in to avoid the derision of islanders who recognized her in the street. Angelique confesses to her sister, "I'm a Jerry Bag".
Sheldon accidentally discovers Hannah/Zelda in Cassie's attic hideaway and she explains her predicament: be Walker's consort or face denunciation/deportation, Sheldon offers to smuggle her to England with Phillip. Wilf Jonas having agreed to assist the plot, must find a way to get his fishing boat out of the harbor "without an escort". Cassie disabuses Oberwachtmeister Wimmel of any romantic delusions regarding their liaison, "It will always be sex, never love", and he replies, "You talk like a man." She continues matter-of-factly, "The thought of even touching you repels me ...." (the composition of the frame in this scene juxtaposes Wimmel with a hanging portrait of Hitler and a swastika banner) "It's the same with any hunger - one might even eat a rat if one were starved."
Senator Dorr's attitude undergoes a sea-change: he expresses a profound hatred of the Germans to Felicity, goes to the La Salles and admits authorship of the plan that got their son shot as a spy, and he gives Phillip intelligence about the strength and composition of German forces on the island and their plans to fortify it. Meanwhile Collin Jonas and his friend Ronald encounter an officer, who drunk and disillusioned, sells his P08 Parabellum for the £5 note Collin got from his uncle, Sheldon Leveque. Back at the docks Oberwachtmeister Wimmel, having signed on ostensibly for a fishing excursion to Nailing Bay, finds Wilf stocking extra petrol (for the presumptive channel crossing) and is amazed by "so much fuel, so much fuel". As Wilf dissembles, "This old trap's a thirsty lady" attentive viewers may note the specific containers he is using and the unspoken visual pun: "Jerrycans! Jerrycans!".
The game is afoot as all principles are converging on Nailing Bay where Wilf and Wimmel, aboard the 'Little Mary' have lain at anchor all afternoon but caught only one garfish between them. Sheldon, en route with Hannah/Zelda in his truck improvises cleverly to pass her through a checkpoint without identification papers. When Felicity discovers that Phillip has in fact left for England she is "far more than upset" at James for keeping her in the dark: "You bloody little boys in your bloody war! You [carry on] with such nobility and stoicism - never howl your anguish, never weep, never wail! Just go on and on hurting each other..."
Things go wrong with the carefully orchestrated plan when Collin and Ronald, having hiked overland, arrive at Nailing Bay, within a few minutes of Sheldon bringing Phillip and Hannah. Wimmel and Jonas, have given up on fishing and are paddling ashore after the motor fails to start. The boys misinterpret Wimmel's posture and gestures with the rifle as an impending execution and shoot at him from the rocks with the pistol. Wimmel makes it to the road and commandeers Sheldon's truck to take Wilf to the barracks prison.
That evening the Baron finds Felicity alone with her thoughts on the porch at 'Sous Les Chenes'. Rheingarten has just learned that his youngest son, 'Manfred' in the Luftwaffe, was shot down over the Channel and wonders that the same stars that are shining on [Phillip] are also shining for his wife back home who, not having yet received the news, is "choosing a star for our son." When Felicity reminds him that Mrs. La Salle will never again choose a star for Eugene, he explains, "One only does what one believes is right. In war one has only the moment of decision. If I believed it to be right, then it was right. Whoever shot done my son was right." Their shared grief and mutual sympathies linger, complementing the Baron's literate imagery.
Aboard the 'Little Mary' Phillip and Hannah are trying to start the motor but are intercepted by a German cutter before the ignition catches. Hannah jumps overboard seconds before she can spotted by the searchlights but Phillip is taken with the photographs. The Baron visits him in his cell:
"There was a day, you might remember, at the garden wall, when the Senator's wife and you and I, shared a time together. I had the sense that both she and I thought of you as our son, the son both she and I were missing. Oh, Mr. Brotherson, we have talked a lot, I have genuinely enjoyed your company, we have built walls together ... and now we have to shoot you."
Realizing that Felicity Dorr is somehow involved, he visits her to personally deliver the news of 'Mr. Brotherson's' capture and fate, "There can be only one outcome, as you know." Deducing the mother-son relationship from her reaction he accuses her of providing the information that James had actually given him. Her outburst would speak for all mothers:
"I had [no information] to give! I wasn't interested in information, I wanted him ... here and out of this hateful war. I wanted him safe!" Then softening her tone, "I've been sick with worry, imagining him in France, imagining him wounded ... suddenly he's here and the relief... Now there's this stupid damn spies ... he's not a spy, he's just some fool they sent over
"I've been blind," responds the Baron, "I've so enjoyed him ... youth and life, the son we both lacked." Felicity sheds the last tattered remnants of her dignity and desperately offers Rheingarten her body, her life, anything to spare her son. "It is very extraordinary," he replies, "that I should lose my son the day before yours." Sobbing uncontrollably Felicity cries,
."No, no, you've still got one son, I won't have any. I'm begging you please ... It's right. You said so yourself, if you believe it's right, then it's right. Believe it Baron, believe it!"
Hanna, having survived the plunge into the icy channel waters and swam ashore, furtively hurries past her old flat when she sees June entering. Inside Leutnant Walker is waiting upstairs having just realized that the shop-keeper Cassie is the sisters' mother. He then goes to store, arriving seconds after Hannah who is back in the attic and warns Cassie, "I know that you know Zelda Kay, so I will keep looking here. Au revoir, Mrs. Smythe." (see discussion page)
In the Baron's penultimate scene he is repelled by Oberleutnant Flach's suggestion that they just "shoot [Phillip] and have done with it" (I.E. without a court-martial). He orders him instead sent to France as a prisoner of war, along with his father, and Wilf. On the docks Kathleen Jonas says goodbye to her husband. Senator Dorr realizing that the Baron's change of heart is due to his wife's efforts forgives Felicity for "whatever it took" to spare Phillip's life. When Phillip arrives she addresses him as 'Mr. Brotherson' and the ferry departs for Normandy.
Back at 'Sous Les Chenes' the Baron accepts Felicity's thanks with "I've grown sickened, Mrs. Dorr, by the deaths of young men". Angelique comes to Bernhardt and they watch the sunset together.
[edit] Response
Overall, the miniseries earned more favourable reviews in the United States than in the United Kingdom. This is possibly due to the near-saturation of British television and film with World War II dramas, and the continuing popularity of the 1980 series Enemy at the Door, which had a similar plot.
In the Channel Islands themselves, the series faced widespread criticism in the local press due to inaccuracy, mispronunciation of names (for example, 'Mahy' was pronounced 'Mah-hee' rather than the correct 'Ma'yee') and the fact that the series was filmed not on the Islands themselves, but the Isle of Man.
[edit] Future?
One of the complaints that both critics and viewers shared was the lack of resolution at the end of the final episode. Many of the minor plot arcs (i.e. the relationsip between the Baron and Felicity; June's tarnished reputation), and a few of the major ones (Zelda's failed escape; Angelique and Bernhardt), were left with loose ends when the mini-series ended. It was rumored that another batch of episodes was to be produced, possibly taking place months or even years after the original six, and these episodes would provide a true ending to the show. This will most likely never occur, however, largely due to the film's lukewarm reception in the UK, and the death of writer Stephen Mallatratt.
