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.
Review of Head in the Clouds
