Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.
A Nazi-run boarding school for girls on the British coast? Sound preposterous but in fact there really was such a school, which is the inspiration for the period spy thriller SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.
Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, and Jim Broadbent headline the film, a Hitchcock-like British historical thriller set in the summer of 1939, just as WWII loomed. The Augusta-Victoria College is a finishing school for German girls at Bexhill-on-Sea on the southeast coast of England.
The film has been a pet project for many year for Eddie Izzard, who grew up in the area., and not only stars in the film but co-wrote the script along with co-star Celyn Jones and director Andy Goddard. The idea sparked when Izzard visited a Bexhill museum and saw the school’s insignia patch, which features a small Swastika along side a British flag.
The school, which existed from 1932 to 1939, was intended for German girls, many of them the daughters of the Nazi elite, to learn the English language and about English culture, as part of a plan to spread Nazi ideology to Britain. Actually, Augusta-Victoria College was one of many international schools in the area prior to WWII, in an area long noted for such foreign-run boarding schools. However, this is a fictional film. While it is it is unclear what, if any, of the story is factual, although it seems likely that British authorities were keeping an eye on the school as tensions rose prior to the Nazi’s invasion of Poland in 1939.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Miller isn’t there just to teach English but to keep tabs on the German school. 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. On one such seaside outing, they make a shocking discovery – the body of the former English teacher, which has washed up on shore. The discovery sparks tensions at the school, mirroring the tensions rising on the international scene as war approaches.
With everyone on edge, a tale of secrets and espionage begins. 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.
Audiences 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. 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. 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.
Many characters are not what they seem, and secrets, betrayals and chases abound. 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.
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. 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. As the spy thriller story unfolds, her position becomes more tenuous and she reaches a breaking point.
The rest of the cast also do fine work, with Celyn Jones and Jim Broadbent particularly memorable in their smaller but pivotal roles.
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 sets and period details are just right, and scenic location setting adds both to the film’s visual appeal and its authentic feel.
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.
SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT offers fine historical spy thriller entertainment, nice performances and a glimpse into a little-known, curious bit of British history. It opens Friday, March 26, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, and Marcus’ Chesterfield, Ronnie’s, St. Charles and Arnold Cinemas.
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
