Head in the Clouds (2004) User Reviews (76)

World War II from the European View

[gradyharp · 8/10 · 27 March 2006]

Writer and Director John Duigan has added to his cinematic stature with this recent film about the interrelated responses of three countries - England, France, Spain - to the early phases of WW II and in doing so gives some inadvertent insight into how the continent was so endangered by the little known bad boy Hitler in the years leading up to the horror of a second World War.

The title seems very appropriate - taken from the quip of 'Head in the clouds, Feet on the ground' - as the lead character Gilda (a radiantly beautiful Charlize Theron) seems to float above all of the reality of warring struggles in 1933, focusing her life on paramours, expensive clothes, and 'dangerous liaisons' with a varied assortment of men, all the while keeping a firm stance on needs of her strangely disjointed life. Indeed, the opening of the film finds Gilda in need of shelter from a night's fling with a Cambridge lover and she knocks on the door of a poor struggling Irish student Guy (Stuart Townsend), thus beginning a lasting affair that coasts through the entire story.

Guy eventually follows Gilda to Paris where she is a popular photographer living with her gallerist, but also living with her lesbian lover Mia (Penelope Cruz). Gilda, Guy, and Mia become a triptych and it is only the impact of the rise of fascism in Spain (Mia's home) that separates the ménage a trois: idealistic Guy and compassionate Mia are off to fight Franco while Gilda is left behind to admit to the encroaching threat of Nazis in France and enter into her own version of involvement.

How these three weather the war and resolve their varied degrees of complicity provides the film's finale. The cast is strong, the settings are gorgeous (in all three countries) as captured by cinematographer Paul Sarossy, and the musical score by Terry Frewer introduces a potential talent for film composition (while borrowing heavily from French cabaret songs, symphonic music by Edward Elgar, and pieces of Francis Poulenc). But the overall reason for enjoying this rather long film is the interplay of Theron, Townsend and Cruz in a variety of richly sensuous vignettes. Well worth watching. Grady Harp

deserved a better finale...

[wrlj2 · 6/10 · 16 March 2006]

There are some movies that end "badly" for good reasons. Realism, logic and storyline symmetry are a few justifications for "unhappy" endings. There are many more, which can cause even the most dedicated devotee of positive endings to concede the necessity of the screenwriter's choice. For me, there are few things more frustrating than a film which ends on a tragic note unnecessarily and in apparent contravention of the entire theme of the movie. Duigan wrote a heroin who was assertive, headstrong and outspoken. She was sufficiently strong, principled, smart and courageous to exact physical revenge on a man who abused her friend, and to perform competently as an espionage agent through the German occupation of Paris. Yet when a few brief words informing the French patriots of her position as a British spy and providing them with the sources necessary to confirm that information would have saved her life, the screenwriter would have us believe she sat mute and accepted the coup de gras silently. Give me a break. I can think of no good reason why this film ended poorly, other than the author was a literary masochist or a Shakespeare tragedy wannawriter. If it had ended the way it should have, I would rate it a 7.5. In its present form, it barely deserves a six.

Romantic epic wannabe

[=G= · 6/10 · 27 January 2005]

"Head in the Clouds", set in Paris (circa 1920's-1940's), is all about a trio of three characters; two women and one man. The centerpiece of the trio and the film is Theron as an independent, capricious, liberal and free spirited women who is in love with both her male and female part-time companions (Townsend & Cruz) who, in turn, both love her. The film follows the ebb and flow of the trio's relationships from their good times before the Spanish civil war through their bad times during WWII. An attempt at a sort of romantic epic, "Head in the Clouds" is wrought with staginess, corny dialogue, charming artificiality, and glorified melodrama. Not well received by the critics, this obvious film seems to be trying too hard while never quite ringing true. Should be an okay watch for romantics and sentimentalists. (B-)

Good performances, but story suspect

[dcarst · 6/10 · 17 September 2004]

Charlize dominates this film not only because of her bathtub scene, but because she turns in the best performance of all the actors. This part provides a needed relief from the part that she had in "Monster" and shows her to be a truly beautiful woman.

Personally, I feel that Stuart Townsend is in over his head in trying to be the man that captivates the debutante of France as played by Miss Theron. He plays the part well but seems to be miscast in a role that needs a man that is stronger physically as well as mentally.

Penelope Cruz is outstanding as the lame Spanish beauty. She provides a excellent performance as the stereotypical cripple with a golden heart as she uses her earnings as a model to become a nurse.

The story provides little, if any, inspiration and needs a stronger hand at the screen writing duties.

I was well entertained by this movie and thought the total effect was to keep me interested although it did become predictable in some spots. Perhaps my rating of 7 is partly because I thought that Charlize should have held out for a stronger screenplay for her next movie.

Well photographed and nicely told story...

[RealLiveClaude · 7/10 · 31 August 2004]

I saw this movie at the World Film Festival in Montreal and I was quite interested in a story of a socialite in a era where a country, then the world was in conflict (the Spanish Civil War and World War II)

This is the story of a freelance socialite Gilda Bessé (Theron) whose life in Paris is so carefree, working in art photography. A young British man, Guy, (Townsend) joins in by her invitation. He has also to share this flat with Mia, a Spanish nurse (Cruz) whose dreams of being a dancer were broken due to political views. However, she wants to go back to her home country to help take care of her countrymen fighting the Fascists. Guy joins her, leaving a very deceived Gilda back in Paris. However, in Spain, Guy and Mia have a brief fling before she dies. Guy goes back in Paris, only to discover Gilda is in love with a Nazi officer, which might get her in trouble at the end of the War. However, she will save his life to prove her true love to him.

Though we heard this kind of story before (a melodrama), it is nicely photographed and well told at a slow pace, without much to say. However, Charlize Theron does shine her, so's Stuart Townsend. Young Quebec actress Karine Vanasse does also shines here as a French Resistance girl and Quebec actor David La Haye is not bad either. As for Penelope Cruz, she is all right, however I would have put more life in her character.

Note for this: 7/10

The emotions aren't convincing enough!

[KurzerBus · 20 September 2004]

I am a huge fan of WWII era films. I enjoy seeing how costumes and persona's are played out in the film. When i read the synopsis of this particular one, i thought, 'this could be a good one'. But unfortunately, I was disappointed. Theron and Townsend seem as if they are worried too much of showing their real life emotions for each other throughout the film. The whole thing hardly ever connects well. I do like the fact that they spoke the original languages, I appreciate that concept and also, the costume designer did a wonderful job. Nevertheless, Charlize and Stewart look bored through the whole thing, and she also seems as if she is reading her lines from the palm of her hand. The emotions just AREN'T convincing enough.

non-balanced triangle

[dromasca · 7/10 · 25 August 2005]

'Head in the Clouds' tries to be too much - historic movie, melodrama, erotic story, and overall a romantic triangle story set in the 30s and 40s Paris. The very banal Brit Guy (Stuart Townsend) gets involved with the fabulous half-French half-American socializing Gilda played by Charlize Theron whose relationship with the Spanish refugee Mia (Peneloppe Cruz) fills in the triangle. When Guy and Mia will follow their political instincts and go fighting to Spain, Gilda stays on her well-being role. Eventually war happens, and the relationship between Guy and Gilda apparently over re-ignites again for a tragic finale.

The story is quite fluently told, and nicely filmed, but the main problem is in the lack of balance between the feminine and masculine sides of the triangle. It's not only that Theron and Cruz are much better acting talents than Townsend, it's also because the script never decides what this pivotal character is meant to be or justifies how it comes that he becomes the object of interest of the fabulous Theron and eventually of the involved and passionate Cruz. So that the only credible relationship is the one between Gilda and Mia, never shown directly on screen.

This film could have been much more, but despite the acting talents it's only one more not very credible war melodrama.

Excellent underrated film

[David Mills · 7/10 · 2 November 2005]

This is a good film with a good script good actors and a crap title. I really don't understand why it gets a 5.8 average user rating. Perhaps it is because it's not a spectacular story. It's just a story of three people in a triangular relationship. The big thing in the story is that the main character Gilda believes strongly in her predestination or in her fate so to speak and that determines the rest of her life. It gives a perfect explanation for the way she acts and interacts with others. It drives her directly towards her fate. The title is really crap, a better title would have been "Living Destiny" or just "Fate" or something.

Charlize Theron is amazing in her role and so is Stuart Townsend. It's a serious non standard love story of two people struggling for their love.

8/10

A Major Movie - A Must See - How did I not hear of it?

[bgc-4 · 9/10 · 9 July 2006]

Given the wonderful quality of Head In The Clouds I don't know how I never heard of it until I stumbled over it on the Netflix web page and decided to rent it.

This is a major movie. It is an emotionally powerful movie. It has a huge scope both in time and space, historical accuracy, an excellent, and at times complex, script, outstanding performances by all concerned, great direction, and superb cinematography. I loved it and I cried at the end.

Charlize Theron was fantastic as Gilda. I have known people such as the character she played and she had it just right. With her body language she told us she was rich, talented, cynical, very loyal to her real friends, and in the end so very brave. Her voice is such that sometimes I think she is channeling Theresa Russell.

Stuart Townsend played his part of a quiet underclass Belfast Irishman, Guy, perfectly. Some reviewers were disappointed that his performance wasn't stronger. Hey, Rambo wouldn't have survived long as a British operative in Nazi occupied Paris. Townsend triumphs in subtlety and his character narrates some of the story.

Penelope Cruz was perfect as Mia, who had been physically injured by Fascists in Spain when they came to take her brother away, presumably to be executed given that the time immediately preceded the Spanish Civil War of the 1930's.

Thomas Kretschmann is brilliant as Frans Bietrich, the personification of Nazi evil: educated, urbane, thoughtful, and completely ruthless when torturing and murdering.

The repartee among the three friends, Gilda, Mia, and Guy, during the prewar period is very realistic. I've participated in similar conversations. There are several back referencing jokes. You have to pay attention. In addition we see the best presentation of a three way sexual relationship I've ever seen on film. These three people love each other and this is beautifully communicated.

World War II was a cataclysm that shook the world. The free peoples were fighting for the life of their civilizations against what was one of the most evil regimes to ever exist through all of history, the German Third Reich. The story starts well before WWII and we are shown the good life of a wealthy young woman and her friends in Paris. We are then taken to the Spanish Civil War and on into WWII. The things portrayed in this movie HAPPENED although maybe not exactly as in the story shown; however, similar things are well documented as occurring during WWII. If one doesn't have much knowledge of the history of that period the story may seem far fetched. It isn't. For all I know the story is factual even though there is the usual statement at the end about it all being fiction.

More about Kretschmann: Toward the end of the movie there is a scene in which his character is supervising the torture of a young woman member of the French Resistance. The torturers are using the near drowning method, waterboarding is what the CIA calls it today. He is seated with his back to his underlings and gives the order to immerse her, then plays with a loose thread on his shirt cuff while timing the immersion. He fiddles with his cuff links. He is clearly bored. Just another day at the office. When he decides she isn't going to talk he gives the order to put her under and and never orders her to be raised. I have heard it phrased: "The banality of evil". Kretschmann and Duigan bring it off to perfection.

This is a must see movie. It will stick with you. Parts of it will come back to haunt you for at least several days. As I said before, this is powerful stuff.

Head in the clouds, feet at the war

[mario_c · 6/10 · 9 April 2007]

This movie is an "epoch drama" about the romance story between the two main characters, Guy (Stuart Townseed) and Gilda (Charlize Theron). It all started in 1933 in Cambridge University where they met each other for the first time. Though, they were together just for one night. But it was kind of love at first sight and along the movie they will be together and separated for many times. It's their destiny… However, to their love one more soul will be joined. Her name is Mia (Penelope Cruz). For a part of the movie they will be a love triangle, but then the war separated them…

You need to have some acknowledgment about the European's history of the 30's and 40's, and about the wars of that period, to understand the movie's pace and the plot's background. You need that to follow this movie and understand its settings and the behaviors of the mains characters. Just understanding the ideals which are related to the social conflicts and wars of that period we can follow their actions and attitudes… and also the "betrayals"…

The pace is a bit confusing because the story passes between 1933 and 1944 and along this period of time we watch several scenes in different "times" and "places". The plot is always "jumping" in time and space… It turns out a bit confusing because if we watch one 5 minutes' scene in 1933 then, suddenly, it quickly moves to one year later. Then we watch one more couples of scenes in 1936 and it quickly moves to 1940, for example. The same happens with the settings. If one scene is in England, sooner the other will be in Paris…

The costumes and the scenario's production are excellent, which makes this movie a good one if we relate it to the history's genre. However the plot disappointed me a little bit, not only because it's a bit confusing, but especially because it was too different from what I expected. I think I was expecting a different (and also deeper) love triangle story. Something more intense about the three characters, and not that this love triangle was just a "part" of the story/movie, as it is.

Too much and not enough

[dane11 · 5/10 · 13 January 2009]

I'll keep this simple -- this movie could have been great, but it wanted to be too much. It wanted to be epic, it wanted to be about friends and it wanted to be an anti-war movie and on top of that, it wanted to be about WWII and the underground work. I wanted to like this movie and while it's not impossible to watch, it is slow and plodding some times. This is a movie that really could have hit the audience hard, but it just kind of laid there instead.

We go through a long, long development of the relationship between the two main characters Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend. This could have been story enough, but no, we have to follow them over a 10 or 15 year period and go all the way through WWII. Early on, we are introduced to Penelope Cruz who is a good friend to Theron's character. And from this we kind of slip into a pseudo-three-way that never fully develops. Then there is the Spanish Civil War that Cruz's character feels she must partake in as well as Townsend. Again, this could have been an interesting story all on its own. Finally, we get into WWII and it drags on and on and I started to lose interest in the characters and the story.

It's all just too much of a BIG story and, at the same time, not enough of a story to really hold our interest. The actors were okay, though sometimes I felt like Theron was just reading her lines. Townsend, for the most part fits the role, but other times he comes across as too modern for the time period.

There are a few twists and turns here that keep the viewer interested, but overall, its not as good as it could have been. A shorter version, about one of the many story lines could make this a really, really good film.

Sexy and stylish!

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 9/10 · 14 February 2005]

5.5?! I cannot believe some of the reviews on this movie. I really thought that "Head in the Clouds" was a great movie. It has accurate history, remarkable acting, very cool costumes, and a interesting story. Charlize and Stuart are in their second film together and bring so much excitement to the screen. Penelope Cruz does great as the supporting role as well. I would highly recommend this movie for a good watch. Please, do not base this movie on the rating from IMDb. I'm telling you right now, this and "Casino" are the ratings I'm really disagreeing with. They deserve higher, especially "Head in the Clouds". Give this movie a chance, you won't regret it.

9/10

Missed It By That Much

[samiyam41 · 6/10 · 29 April 2005]

Stuart Townsend really deserves a great film to get his career going but this wasn't it. The story is decent but the editing was too stagy to make me really follow the story well and the directing was just juvenile enough so that I was unable to suspend my disbelief and really care about the characters. Charlize Theron puts in a good performance and Penelope Cruz is acceptable but the whole thing feels more like a made-for-TV potboiler and the ending leaves much to be desired. Most of the problem is that the sets aren't that great so that one expects to see the backdrop fall down, the street scenes look so "backlot" that you want to cry. Townsend, however, gives a great performance and if he can get a good plot and good direction, will probably go far (we hope).

Dullsville

[ENS31671 · 1/10 · 14 September 2004]

Surprisingly boring giving its epic subject matter and emotional potential, this WWII romance falls flat because of three reasons. First, some truly horrendously pompous dialogue that never allows you to relate to the characters as human beings so much as writer's contrivances. Second, a wooden performance by Stuart Townsend who is actually the lead of the film as he is afforded by far the most screen time and through whose eyes we see the film (just watch is non-reaction at the death of a friend during the Spanish civil war scenes). Third, a slew of melodramatic contrivances that add up to some unintentionally funny moments (a gypsy fortune teller straight out of a dime novel or the gut-busting fact that Theron joins the French resistance while neglecting to tell the French). Yes, there are a few bright moments: Cruz is good, the photography is beautiful and Theron does try hard. But really... didn't anyone read the script?

Damaged Heads

[tedg · 29 January 2006]

I enjoyed this. I did. And I'll tell you also that is overly simple, hackneyed and largely unengaging. So why did I like it?

First, since I'm not going to actually recommend it, you need to know something about it. It is written and directed by John Duigan, so you know it will be coherent, and slickly produced.

You also know that it will have a simple "explanation," that the arc of the story will have grade-school clarity. And you know that the actors will embrace this because it makes their job easier, so you might get closer match with the actors and the directors intent than usual. And if you know Duigan's past work, you'll also know that the story will have not only grade-school clarity but a sort of simpleminded romanticism.

All his projects deal with sex, and unrealistic romantic notions.

So yes, this is just like your average pop song: a young girl singing about the depths of life though you know she couldn't possibly know much. These trivial insights served up as profundities. These profundities overproduced with creamy lushness with carefully placed hooks. Oh and that girl dolled up to maximize her physical appeal by reference to archetypes.

Its why critics hated it, and you probably will too.

But for me, it was one of those happy times where I fell into the rhythm of the thing and mapped a larger arc on it, one that no one involved intended, I'm sure. It is, in essence, about three people, each stupid in their own ways about the ways of the world. It is about three heads in the clouds. And it is done as if it were created from one of those heads, each in turn. Better, the film is in three acts, each with different cinematography and art design.

Each of the three acts maps onto one of our wifty characters. We have the central character: half American, rich, beautiful and fully self-absorbed. She's a photographer, so you can see some self-referential intent. Her two loves are an illiterate Spanish woman who was picked up in a strip club.

An honest, straightforward woman who has no idea how life works or what is around the corner.

And our British academic. Bookish, restrained. Not afraid to plunge in blindly to follow his fantasies but no matter how much reality slaps him in the face (through two wars) he tenaciously clings to the fantasies which drive him.

All of these are dumb in their own way and the reason — the film implies — that thugs rule the world.

"Dogtown and the Z-Boys" was a bad movie, but perfect in a way, just exactly the sort of thing that would have been made by one of the characters in the thing. This is the same. Go back to "Paranoid" which was widely dismissed. Its premise was that what you see could just be a dream of the main character. Or "Sirens" which implied that a full sexual life could be painted onto our imagination.

So think of this as a visit to three vacuous heads in the clouds. Think of it as "Dreamers" with less passion and less film reference. But equally cinematic in its vision.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

When we were Queers (DVD)

[leplatypus · 7/10 · 10 November 2008]

This movie is a good illustration of a passionate romance based only on intimacy. No matter whom the lovers are deep inside, their pleasure is in the flesh, whatever it is with women or men. So, when the mind and feelings come, they lose their bond and they can leave each other.

With the years passing, this truth gets less powerful but in the tragic era of World War Two, every second can be decisive.

I found the cast wonderful: I just like Penelope Cruz's accent and it's an evidence that Charlize Theron is a damned good actress! The scope of this love story is appealing between stern England, cool Paris and wounded Spain!

As full of it, a very good surprise!

(the only flaw: the Parisian neighborhood looks really like a movie set, and I don't say this just because I live in Paris!)

In rebuttal to...

[jeffwilber · 7/10 · 4 March 2006]

...the prior stellar review, I beg to differ as to that which said viewer opined. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, the performances, the IMPLIED menage a trois as well to the elemental message of the film. To some, sex, of any sort, is IMMORAL - especially when the lights are on. Fine. But to the majority of the world, sex is not something that is subject to another's approval and has a direct correlation to who and what we are as we define ourselves by those we call friend and lover. And that, that friendship and love, become more than sex and ultimately, after conflicting directly with principal and ideals, is the most important thing in life and the message at the heart of this piece. She (the Charlize character) represents just that in what she takes from her two great loves and applies it to her own life and deeds amidst in a world awash in the chaos of war. She is a better person because of what she has taken from those she has loved.

Hey, the bottom line is this - if you have a sense of Hemmingwayesque history and an eye for beauty, then sit back and enjoy the movie. If you have 'hangups' like some others, there are plenty of Mel Gibson and John Wayne films to partake of between rounds of Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas.

Oh, and she has a WONDERFUL body.

Might have been good -- but it isn't ( SPOILER?)

[[e-mail] · 6/10 · 6 February 2005]

Okay, Charlize Theron is gorgeous and sexy. Penelope Cruz the same. Stuart Townsend is good looking. And the story line might have made for an interesting movie. Spoiled rich girl (Theron) has simultaneous love affairs with young Englishman (Townsend) who she first met at Cambridge University and lame Spanish strip-tease artist (Cruz). The setting is Paris, pre-World War II. She lives for the moment. They are idealists who go off to Spain to support the Republican side in the Civil War. Cruz' character, who's become a field nurse, dies. Spoiled rich girl is sleeping with someone else when young Englishman returns. She rejects him. He goes back to England. World War II breaks out and in 1944 he is parachuted into France to help the French underground. Spoiled rich girl is now living with a German officer. She's reviled by the locals as a collaborator and a whore. But, it turns out, she's secretly working with the underground and saves young Englishman's hide when the Germans learn about a rendezvous he's planning with another underground operator in a local bistro. He and his friends in the underground blow up a train but the obligatory girl member of the underground is caught, tortured and killed by spoiled rich girl's Nazi lover. As German control of Paris disintegrates, Nazi lover is shot by an underground sniper in their apartment/love nest and spoiled rich girl is taken away by the underground to be humiliated and then, one assumes, shot, hanged or at least beaten bloody. The above summary, however, suggests that the film is coherent, which it isn't. The director is not very successful in maintaining narrative tension, and at moments when members of the audience ought to be on the edge of their seats, they are very likely to be yawning. Director seems to have concentrated all of his effort on the sex scenes which are very steamy, especially one where spoiled rich girl and young Englishman get it on in a bath tub. Sex between spoiled rich girl and lame Spanish strip-tease artist is hinted at but not shown. All of this wastes a pretty good performance by Theron. Cruz is given relatively little to do. Townsend is overmatched. Not a bad movie. Just not a good one.

Frock film or war drama?

[basilisksamuk · 6/10 · 22 October 2012]

Head in the Clouds walks a thin line between a decent drama and a frock film. I nearly didn't make it past the early part of the film as it looked to shaping up as an episode of Downton Abbey or some other boring frock film. However, once we got over that section and moved to France it picked up.

Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz carried the film as far as I was concerned and I always found their characters believable. Theron is convincingly annoying and lightweight through most of the film and this really pays off in the resolution of her story arc. Cruz is just a great actress and it's good to see her getting worthwhile parts. I was less certain of Stuart Townsend but I suspect that was because of the character he was playing rather than any deficiencies in his acting ability. Guy, his character, comes across as rather wet and his transformation into action hero is hard to believe. The character has that annoying way of narrating events in a slightly whiny voice with a falling cadence that is hard to like. (Bearing in mind my anti-frock film, doomed character hating stance.)

In many ways this reminded me of Black Book though it wasn't as good. You'll probably like it if you like frock films. You'll probably like it if you have any interest in WWII. Often this is an uneasy marriage of different genres but on the whole it makes for an interesting and engaging viewing.

WWII epic involving three friends

[dianeoban-1 · 10/10 · 18 November 2005]

This is an absolutely top-rate film, and it's a crime it only has two stars. This finely done epic is perfect in every detail - concept, acting, direction, editing, sound, music, set decoration, costume design and everything else. It is also a crime that Sony didn't get behind it. This is an Academy Award level film that was thrown in the trash by Sony and it's distributors. I can do nothing but complain about the state of the entire American film industry when crappy remakes are pushed to the hilt, and drops of golden genius like this are ignored. Of course, the studio couldn't think of a "franchise" to make out of it, and there are no action figures to push. How long with audiences put up with the junk being pushed down our throats, remake after remake? Well, if recent box office is any judge, the public is getting wise. The studios, of course, are clueless.

Sheer beauty come along side an under fleshed/emotionally questionable story

[Samiam3 · 6/10 · 25 September 2010]

From a production standpoint Head in the Clouds is impressive. Not many Canadian films this expensive get made (simply BECAUSE they are expensive) Top credit goes to the make-up, costume and art departments, as well as the cinematographer. Nothing in the frame needs an upgrade, unfortunately the script does.

Head in the Clouds reminded me of two similar films which had yet to be made: Joe Wright's Atonement, and Paul Verhoeven's Black Book. These two films have something that Head in the Clouds could use...development. This feature contains a story that has nowhere essentially to go, and features characters who are insufficiently defined. When it's all over, you come to realize that Head in the Clouds is essentially a melodrama. It is glossy but generic.

Too much of the story is dependant on a romance between Stuart Townsend and Charlize Theron which lacks credibility and chemistry. As a lead actress, Charlize Theron is quite inept. I'm not convinced that she tried all that hard. Theron is little more than a body to go inside a bunch of pretty dresses. sometimes she actually feels like the product of a materialist 21st century.

The best performance in the movie is turned in by Penelope Cruz. She is able to portray emotion better than anyone,in part because her role is also the best in the film or so it seems. All the more disappointing it becomes then, considering that One of he worst decisions Head in the Clouds makes is to drop Cruz in an abrupt/unconvincing manner after we have gotten to know her so well.

Head in the Clouds has an overlong climax with a rushed ending, that sort of leaves the audience in question. I admit, I am a little disappointed in the finished project. Its beauty is equisite, but the movie is unable to generate enough emotion or intelligence to justify my recommending this as anything other than a fancy date movie for twenty-somethings (it's not a teen movie)

Melodramatic tripe

[hakof · 3/10 · 12 April 2009]

A young, impoverished, passionate left-wing Irish student at Cambridge University, Guy Malyon (Stuart Townsend) falls in love with a happy-go-lucky, American-born socialite Gilda Bessé (Charlize Theron). Maylon follows her to 1930s Paris, where she is a professional photographer and where she lives with a Spanish-born nurse named Mia (Penélope Cruz). Maylon and Bessé cohabitate and work together. Inflamed by the injustice of the fascist Falange in the Spanish War, Mia and Maylon leave Paris to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Maylon eventually returns to Paris; he later fights in World War II; and he constantly longs for Bessé.

Somewhere, someone commented that this film could have had the tagline, "How world events can mess with your love life." That pretty much sums it up. Maylon wants to be with Bessé, but the great struggle against fascism keeps derailing their relationship. Frankly, the script is ridiculous. In fact, the whole storyline is completely overdone and melodramatic. It seems very contrived. It is as if the screenwriter wanted to tell an epic, dramatic love story against the political events of Europe 1934-1944, but this film doesn't have the heft. It's no "Dr. Zhivago." Additionally, the acting is fairly awful and over-dramatic. I can't believe that two Oscar-worthy actresses needed to act in a movie as absurd as this one. There is nothing subtle about the script that would befit their great acting talents.

After seeing this film on cable television, I was so disappointed that I was moved to write the foregoing comment. I would recommend avoiding this film.

Tremendous One

[anariko_san · 10/10 · 11 January 2005]

The Head in Clouds, is I can say tremendous movie, perfect one, two even four thumbs up. Since i watched this movie I'm in deep impression, I've cried three days after watching it. The crew is perfect, the perfect three, Charlize, Penelope and Stuart made this movie unbeatable hit. If I would be in a judge rewarding Oscar i would give it out without any doubt, not only as a best movie to all three actors. Head in clouds is life story, and I believe it's a true life story, it must happened before and now screened. I've payed attention on every single moment at every single episode of this movie, and it was great, but one thing make me feel bad, the last moment when she been killed by french partisans. Actually I didn't want her to be killed, at least someone should warn'em that she do all these for her country she lies under Nazi officer for her country's future, part of sacrifice herself, but destiny. Maybe she gone far further that no one could believe in this. So all these above about what real life consist of, Love, pain, honour, patriotism, loss and severe use of Destiny. Thanks to Charlize, thanks to Penelope, thanks to Stuart and Thanks to John Duigan.

big epic war/romance I liked it but then I like Pearl Harbor.

[ib011f9545i · 7/10 · 19 September 2020]

If you like war films such as Pearl Harbor or Saving Private Ryan or Monument Men you will like this. Some on here are very critical of this film but I thought it was good but flawed. It has an ambitious story (3 friends lives from mid 1930s Paris to 1944 Paris via Spanish civil war). The film was written by someone who is not a historical expert. For example one character is an activist for the Spanish Republic but when a Spanish character mentions an area of Spain famous for a rebellion before the war he does not react to the name. To enjoy the film it might help to know a little of the history of the era. I wonder if it would have been better with a different male read. But if you look at the film as a whole it is entertaining and worth seeing.

Surface gloss

[Asa_Nisi_Masa2 · 5/10 · 3 May 2007]

Set in England, France and Spain between the 20s and the end of WWII, it doesn't really evoke any of the places it's set in very convincingly - only rather superficially. It wasn't a bad film – nowhere near as lame as something like Charlotte Gray, for instance. It wasn't an especially good movie, either, though. Nothing about Head in the Clouds is ever dreadful, but it's also all rather skin deep, with none of the characters' plights ever really moving the viewer. When Charlize Theron's poor little rich girl Gilda had to choose between the Gestapo Officer and the nice, idealistic Irish boy fighting for the partisans in the Spanish Civil War, I was willing her to go for the sexy German. Oops – probably not what its makers had in mind. It didn't really matter, though - to me she was just having to choose between a blonde haired guy and a dark haired guy, and not much else. Finally, Penelope Cruz, who'd borrowed her limp from Audrey Tautou's character in Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles, looked like she was waiting for Almodovar to pop by any minute and whisk her off to a far more interesting film set. At least my boyfriend got to see Theron's boobies, though, so he was happy about that.