Shining Through (1992)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

David Seltzer

Writers (WGA):

Susan Isaacs (novel)
David Seltzer (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 January 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

He needed to trust her with his secret. She had to trust him with her life.

Plot Keywords:

1940s | Nudity | Black Stockings | Translator | Nazi

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	Ed Leland
Melanie Griffith	...	Linda Voss
Liam Neeson	...	Franze-Otto Dietrich
Joely Richardson	...	Margrete Von Eberstein
John Gielgud	...	Sunflower
Francis Guinan	...	Andrew Berringer
Patrick Winczewski	...	Fishmonger
Anthony Walters	...	Dietrich's Son
Victoria Shalet	...	Dietrich's Daughter
Sheila Allen	...	Olga Leiner, Margrete's Mother
Stanley Beard	...	Linda's Father
Sylvia Syms	...	Linda's Mother
Ronald Nitschke	...	Horst Drescher
Hansi Jochmann	...	Hedda Drescher
Peter Flechtner	...	S.S. Officer at Fish Market

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:R (certificate no. 31366) | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:16 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In Ed Leland's office Linda explains how she comes to know something about spying and refers to a film in which a character's tongue is cut out and says, "Have you seen 'The Fighting 69th'." The "Fighting 69th" was O.S.S. Bill Donovan's regiment in World War One.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Margrete ushers Linda into her home, her mother is playing Chopin's "Andante Spianato" and "Grand Polonnaise" on the piano. She is a Nazi sympathizer, so she probably wouldn't play music by a Polish and French composer.

Quotes:

Franze-Otto Dietrich: [from car to Linda Voss who is walking alone and has just been fired by Horst Drescher] It's me, ze zoup.
[points to his chest where Linda Voss had spilled soup on him earlier during the dinner]
Franze-Otto Dietrich: He dismissed you?
Linda Voss: Yes
Franze-Otto Dietrich: Ze doves were raw.
Linda Voss: I had no time, I arrived at 6:00.
Franze-Otto Dietrich: [talking to Linda Voss about Horst Drescher and the dinner of raw dove] He ate ze whole thing to pwove it was edible.
[laughs]
Franze-Otto Dietrich: You should have seen him. Pompous little ass. Eating a raw bird.
[shakes his head]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gynaikes dilitirio (1993)

Soundtrack:

Goodnight Sweetheart

Don't Miss The Point

This will be a short review. I have seen a lot of pro and con on this movie, but almost all of the con's talk of the unbelievable plot. I will give you that the plot has some problems, and if this was a serious spy movie, then I'd be there with you, but that is not what this film is. This film is a total romance with some action thrown in. If you watch it and see how two people will risk all they have for each other because they are in love then you will enjoy this film. Sure there are holes in the plot...but not in the romance. Melanie is very likable in this movie and I think there is great chemistry! If you don't scrutinize the plot so much you may even find yourself routing for them as they cross the Swiss border.