In early 1960s London, Thomas (Stoppard) is an undercover KGB spy, carrying out assignments for the enigmatic "Tally Ho" and reporting to his handler (Hill). And also falling in love with his landlord's daughter (Gayle). But his conflicting identities spark memories of a horrific childhood in wartime Berlin where, as a teenager (Schilling), his longstanding crush on his neighbour Melanie (Heerwagen) was interrupted by the violent culmination of the war, after which he was carted off by the Russians.

Traviss tells this story with a swirling mixture of flashbacks that's virtually impossible to follow (even piecing together that synopsis was a real effort). He never sticks in one place long enough for us to understand what's happening; these short scenes are intriguing but make no sense on their own. And it takes a lot of jumping around to fill in enough gaps for a full story to emerge (with a giant black hole where the Russian years would be).

Technically, the film's extremely accomplished. The photography is inventive, with a sense of urgency and drama that's quite involving. And the set design is remarkable for such a modest budget, especially in the wartime sequences (although 1962 London strangely looks more like 1969). The cast give strong performances, catching nuances in the scenes and interacting on screen with real passion and humour. Although the choppy structure diffuses the characters so badly that we can never identify with anyone.

The title refers to the Nazi youth activities organisation, although even this is underdeveloped, as it seems to have nothing to do with the story. It's like Traviss has developed a full-length TV series then brutally whittled it down under two hours. He can't seem to settle on a point of view, leaves some key scenes murky and under-explained, and even indulges in vicious Soviet bashing. The musical score continually urges us to feel something, but with all of these flashbacks within flashbacks, we're more likely to react with a "huh?"

themes, violence, language

9.Oct.06