In Jersey, occupied by the Nazis in World War 2, shopkeeper Louisa Gould (Jenny Seagrove) hides a Russian man ‘Bill’ (Julian Kostov) who has escaped from a labour camp. At first he doesn’t leave the house but, as the months pass, Lou becomes bolder, obtaining Bill some false papers and taking him on days out as well as letting him serve in the shop. She trusts that the local community will keep her secret, but is that trust misplaced?
Based on a true story and sticking fairly closely to the facts, this is a heart wrenching watch. Lou was an extraordinarily feisty woman and she is brought to life superbly by Seagrove, who I have not seen this good before. The supporting cast range from the reliably good Amanda Abbington, John Hannah and Peter Wight to the surprisingly proficient Ronan Keating as Lou’s brother-in-law.
The occupation of Jersey has been dealt with much more on TV than film, and, at times I felt that it might have worked better as an episodic drama. However, it is much more unflinching than a small screen programme would probably have been allowed to be, and its uncompromising ending is a real gut punch. Visually, director Christopher Menual and cinematographer Sam Care make the little too obvious decision to use a palette of muted blues and browns to emphasise the grimness of the Islanders situation. It is Jersey, I’m sure that the sun would have shone during the two years that Bill was with Lou! But screenwriter Jenny Lecoat, Lou’s grand-niece, brings the story to life and does her family proud.
Rating 8.5 out of 10