Themes: Women During Wartime, Life on the Homefront
Main Cast: Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh, Tom Georgeson
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
David Leland (Wish You Were Here) directed this adaptation of Angela Huth's novel about the British Women's Land Army (aka "land girls"), a WW II regiment which recruited women to work on farms during the war. The volunteer "land girls," from all walks of life, were dispatched across the British countryside to replace the farm workers who had gone to the front. Answering the call and ready to pitch in, three young WLA women arrive at a remote farm in the Dorset countryside. Romantic Stella (Catherine McCormack) plans to wed naval officer Philip (Paul Bettany). Cambridge grad Ag (Rachel Weisz) is quirky and cerebral. Working-class Prue (Anna Friel) is a flirt whose impudent wit conceals her innocence. The farm is owned by the Lawrences (Tom Georgeson, Maureen O'Brien), whose handsome son Joe (Steven Mackintosh) gets involved with all three land girls. Joe dreams of leaving the family farm to become a fighter pilot, but he's thwarted by health problems. For the women, the work is hard, the days are long, and the war is never far from their thoughts. But the women's camaraderie strengthens them, individually and as a unit. They form close friendships with each other, and Stella finds true love with Joe. All experience exhilaration and passion, and with the war's end, altered destinies (revealed in an epilogue in which the land girls are reunited some years after the war). The soundtrack features memorable '40s songs. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Maureen O'Brien - Mrs. Lawrence; Lucy Akhurst - Janet; Paul Bettany - Philip
Credit
Frank Walsh - Art Director, Jeremy Zimmerman - Casting, Andrew Warren - Co-producer, Shuna Harwood - Costume Designer, Nick Laws - First Assistant Director, David Leland - Director, Nick Moore - Editor, Ruth Jackson - Executive Producer, Jenny Shircore - Hair Styles, Brian Lock - Composer (Music Score), Jenny Shircore - Makeup, Caroline Amies - Production Designer, Henry Braham - Cinematographer, Simon Relph - Producer, Stuart Wilson - Sound/Sound Designer, Keith Dewhurst - Screenwriter, David Leland - Screenwriter, Angela Huth - Book Author
During World War II, a new regiment called the Women's Land Army, nicknamed the "Land Girls" was formed in the United Kingdom for recruiting women to work at farms where men left to go to war. Set in 1941 in the Dorset countryside, three young women, Stella, Ag and Prue, arrive on a remote farm. They are the 'Land Girls' - city girls who have volunteered to take the place of young men who have gone to war. They are an unlikely trio: hairdresser Prue is vivacious and sexy (Friel); Cambridge University graduate Ag is quiet and more reserved (Weisz); while the dreamy Stella (McCormack) is in love with Philip, a dashing Royal Navy officer. Despite their differences, they soon become close friends. The film follows their relationships with each other and the men in their lives in the face of war.
