![]() ![]() ![]() Six Minutes to Midnight: The story of the Nazi finishing school in Eddie Izzard’s film starring Judi Dench. Miller gets the job 6 days later, secretly trying to find out what happened. 15, 1939: 17 days before WWII, an English teacher and his camera disappear on a coastal boarding school with 20 German teen girls. But the authorities believe he is the problem. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. Charles and Arnold Cinemas.Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. It opens Friday, March 26, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, and Marcus’ Chesterfield, Ronnie’s, St. SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT offers fine historical spy thriller entertainment, nice performances and a glimpse into a little-known, curious bit of British history. Those period details include that Augusta-Victoria school crest, with its unsettling mix of British and Nazi symbols, which so struck Izzard when he first saw it. The sets and period details are just right, and scenic location setting adds both to the film’s visual appeal and its authentic feel. The whole tale is set in the scenic British countryside, with the stately home that houses the school, the area’s picturesque historic sites, and the lovely rolling hills and windswept coast. The rest of the cast also do fine work, with Celyn Jones and Jim Broadbent particularly memorable in their smaller but pivotal roles. As the spy thriller story unfolds, her position becomes more tenuous and she reaches a breaking point. Dame Judi gives a touching performance as the headmistress, so devoted to her young charges that she is willing to ignore the glaring warning signs right in front of her. Unsurprisingly, the acting is excellent, particularly Dench’s portrayal of the well-meaning headmistress, whose affection for “her girls” blinds her to what is really going on. ![]() Izzard’s Miller is very much a Hitchcock character, a man falsely accused of a crime who must go on the run to clear his name, although Miller has his secrets too. Many characters are not what they seem, and secrets, betrayals and chases abound. Izzard’s co-writer Celyn Jones plays a policeman, a crafty veteran of the last war, who is assisting the local police captain, played by James D’Arcy, in investigating the events around the discovery of the body of the missing man. He couldn’t have better supporting cast with Dame Judi, who plays the well-meaning if deluded headmistress, and Jim Broadbent, who adds the comic relief as a colorful, outgoing local bus driver who ends up playing a critical role. There is a distinct Hitchcock flavor to this spy thriller set in the late ’30s, specifically echoing THE 39 STEPS, although the plot is wholly different.Īudiences are used to seeing Eddie Izzard in comic roles or doing stand-up, so seeing him in a straightforward dramatic role is a bit of a shift, yet the actor handles is well. With everyone on edge, a tale of secrets and espionage begins. The discovery sparks tensions at the school, mirroring the tensions rising on the international scene as war approaches. On one such seaside outing, they make a shocking discovery – the body of the former English teacher, which has washed up on shore. The school is on summer break and only the other teacher who seems to be present is the physical education teacher Ilise Keller (Carla Juri), who drills the girls in exercise routines and takes them on outings to the beach to swim. Miller isn’t there just to teach English but to keep tabs on the German school. In the end, she agrees to hire him on a trial basis, swayed in part by the fact that he is half-German and bilingual. Although the headmistress is less than impressed with Miller, who has a spotty employment history, she does need to quickly find a replacement to maintain the girls’ English language skills. She chooses to focus on that aspect of the school rather than its Nazi sponsorship, and is genuinely devoted to “her girls” and their care and education. He is interviewed by the German school’s British headmistress, Miss Rocholl (Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench), who describes the school as a place to promote understanding between British and German people. After the mysterious disappearance of the school’s previous English teacher, teacher Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard) goes for an interview as a replacement for the job at Augusta-Victoria College for girls at Bexhill.
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