Customer Reviews

Shining Through [VHS]

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This has always been one of my favorite films. Apparently it's supposed to be a guilty pleasure. I can't imagine why though. It's not a deep or socially important work of art, but it doesn't pretend to be. It's just a glorious, old-fashioned piece of entertainment, gorgeously shot on location in Germany, with one of the best scores the late Michael Kamen ever wrote.

Alright, so Melanie Griffith convinces Michael Douglas to send her as a spy into Nazi Germany because of her phenomenal streudel baking skills. It's that kind of movie. Either you let yourself be swept away by the storytelling, or it's just not for you.

The big news, however, is that this great movie is finally on DVD in the US. And it's in widescreen, a vital piece of information that was left off the listing here. I was really afraid I'd walk into Tower today and see a Pan and Scan atrocity and have to leave it there unbought. Worry not, the film is presented here as it was in theaters in 1992.

The makers of this DVD have also kindly left the original burned-in subtitles for the sequences in German, instead of replacing them with those ugly player generated ones you see so often. I always liked the font the filmmakers chose, so this was a pleasant surprise.

It would have been nice to have a director's commentary, or some of the approximately half an hour that was removed from the version that was shot. However for under $10 what we get (two trailers) is fine.

It took long enough, with the US just about the last country on earth to get "Shining Through" on DVD, but it's here at last, and looking as good as I could have possibly have hoped.

This film could be labeled a drama, a romance or a suspense/thriller. It is all of that and more. It's the story of a movie junkie who joins the war effort and ends up a jewish spy in Germany. Her only qualifications are that she speaks German and that she's seen a bunch of war films.

I have seen this movie more times that I care to admit but it is one of my all-time favorites. The acting is great, the story is both touching and suspenseful and the plot is smooth. I'm not a big Melanie Griffith fan, but five minutes into the movie I forgot it was her and just enjoyed the film. She could have easily been docile and run to the big man to save her but her character is smart and sassy. The movie starts with Melanie's character telling the story in retrospect, yet the break in of the narrative is not obtrusive... just well done. On a side note, the love theme that runs throughout the movie is beautiful.

This is an excellent film and would be enjoyed by men, women and teens alike. I definetly recommend viewing it when you have a chance.

To be honest I am surprised that I have not managed to see this movie before now, considering my weakness for espionage movies and specifically World War II spy pictures (I list WHERE EAGLES DARE and THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS among my favorite 100 movies).
I did see parts of this movie before, as it played in the background of a house party I attended over a decade before. But it was perhaps the presence of Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith as the leads that led me to think that it was just some lame action adventure that Hollywood sometimes has a tendency to unload on us.
Boy was I wrong!
My TiVo picked up the show as a suggestion when it played on HBO and as I sat down to watch it I realized that this movie was more drama than action and more suspense than adventure. A true revelation and factors that really heightened the quality and provided compulsive viewing for the next two hours-plus.
The story centers around a bilingual (English and German) secretary Linda Voss that begins to work for a rather shadowy businessman Ed Leland (played by Douglas) at the outbreak of World War II in Europe. Soon she suspects he is a spy and after taking down a particularly strange message she confronts her boss with her suspicions.
Fast forward and upon America's entrance into the conflict Ed reveals himself to be an operative for OSS (the precursor to today's CIA) and an Army officer to-boot.
With her knowledge of German and highly keen observation skills Linda is soon attending top secret OSS meetings and (against Ed's better judgement) sent into Germany to steal secret plans for the V-1 and V-2 rockets.
What follows is a thoroughly entertaining story that shows a truly frightening and at points terrifying depiction of life in Nazi Germany that includes some top calibre acting talent in the lead roles. In addition to Douglas and Griffith we also have Liam Neeson as a German officer, Jeoly Richardson as a German civilian and John Gielgud as an old spymaster. All give tour-de-force performances and although sometimes the plot can be somewhat predictable (we suspect early on the true allegiances of one of the three supporting characters may not be what they seem to be) but it is always compelling and wonderful entertainment.
The DVD is available in widescreen (always a plus) and although its rather light on special features it is available for under $10.
Highly recommended.

This film is a heartfelt yet fast-paced story of two American spies who fall in love amidst the dangers of doing their jobs deep in the heart of Germany during World War II. Michael Douglas plays Ed Leland, a hard-edged and patriotic military spy who unwittingly falls in love with Linda Voss (played with the warm mix of charm, innocence and thrill by Melanie Griffith), a Brooklyn girl of Jewish descent who wants to do her part using her perfect German speaking abilities to work as a cook and try to discover the location of a bomb being built by the German army. Both lovers get more than they bargained for when Linda ends up in the home of a high-ranking German official and risks her life trying to discover the location of her Jewish relatives hiding in Berlin. An outstanding supporting cast that includes Joely Richardson, Liam Neeson and Sir John Giulgud makes this film a must-see, especially if you are a sucker for World War II nostaligia and "I'll Be Seeing You." Believable or not, this film is a keeper.

The movie begins with Mrs. Ed Leland being interviewed by the BBC for their series of war stories.

Being a half Jewish girl, half Irish & half German, she, Linda Voss wants desperately to save her cousins in Germany, especially Sophia who plays the flute.

Her life changes when she happens to stumble into a secretary's job for a lawyer, Ed Leland. Because of her love for war movies, she pegs Leland as a spy. He is very private, stoic and withdrawn.
In proving an interpretor as being a possible double-spy she becomes privy to some of the inner goings on of Ed's office.

She does finally cause him to smile and they do fall for each other and become lovers. Their relationship suffers a seperation after Pearl Harbor and Ed disappears for several months.
During the War she is relagated to the secretarial pool in the basement where she is always searching some word of Ed. He never contacts her.

She spends some time at the USO and in walks Ed Leland with a brunette on his arm. He doesn't see Linda until he starts dancing and then all hell breaks out emotionally. She begs him to tell her how to quit loving him.

Watch it to find out how she convinces the powers that be to send her to Germany as a spy. Boy does she goof up.

There she meets up with Sunshine, Margrete Von Eberstein and Horst Drescher.
Drescher sets Linda up [in hiring her to cook]to meet Franz-Otto Dietrich and his two children. Linda then disappears from all aquaintances [and scares the crap out of Ed] as she takes over the job of nanny to the high ranked German.
Even Margrete does not know where she is. Linda pursues her quest for her cousins. And tells Margrete and Ed [when he shows up undercover]that she has located her cousins.

During a bombing raid she has Dietrich's children with her as she locates the address of her cousins [only to find them gone] and learns of a hidden room in Dietrich's basement.

She has film and Ed is waiting to help her make an escape from war torn Germany. You have to see her flight and Ed's daring rescue of her and the other twists and actions to fully enjoy this love story.

Do not pass it up - see for yourself just how good it really is.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED --M This is truly an 8 star movie despite the bare -----

It's so good to see a movie that epitomizes a good old Hollywood classic. It includes all of the true essentials; romance, danger, adventure, and of course dashing men. Michael Douglas is his usual handsome self and plays his part as tough on the outside, loving on the inside, very well. Liam Neeson is naturally, absolutely gorgeous and charming even as a Nazi solder. I even have to give Melanie Griffiths some points, she had the perfect 1940's girl look and attitude. Overall the movie was a great romance with plenty of danger. It was a very interesting story without being deep and depressing. By the time it was over, I was ready to go become a spy in Germany and find myself a Liam Neeson of my own! This movie was a great escape from the real world...just like Hollywood should be. Definitely worth seeing!

Although this film has some minor flaws, it is very entertaining, and I enjoy watching it again and again. This is about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances, and how they react to those circumstances - and to each other. Melanie Griffith does a credible job as Linda Voss, although it is obvious she had to take a crash course in German before the filming started. (The actor who played Ed Leland's assistant had a much more authentic accent, and obviously knows German.) Michael Douglas's performance was a little stiff, but his persona works well with Griffith's, and together they make the storyline work. All the other lead actors gave what I thought were authentic and well-done performances. The set designs were excellent - especially Ed's apartment in New York and Margerete's apartment in Berlin. They were SO 1930's! Kudos to the set designers who did their research well. The storyline is a little slow in places, but the viewer hangs on because you don't know what is going to happen next. The plot could have gone in several different directions, so the viewer stays with the story to find out. And, although this film is based on Susan Isaacs' novel, I think it is safe to say that something along this line probably happened during World War II. As I said earlier, it was about ordinary people in very extraordinary circumstances. If you are a World War II buff, (and an incurable romantic), you will definitely enjoy this movie.

I saw some of the other (negative) reviews on this movie, and I think they're missing the point. I wasn't very interested in the individual acting performances, as much as I was in the story itself. I haven't been able to find many movies that were done in the WWII setting as this one was, so that was a unique, refreshing perspective in and of itself.
The "Romance" element is essential to any war story, so putting it up front in the movie set the tone for everything else, to me. Even the conflict caused by Liam Neeson's character, which showed some humanity within the borders of 1940's Germany, was a nice change from the expected ruthlessness that's typical in these settings.
I'm obviously not a professional critic. Not even close. I'm a typical guy that likes good movies and good stories. I didn't even know that this movie was based on a novel. I don't wanna know. All I know is that the movie works for me.

I am so pleased this title is finally getting a DVD release - and at only $10! Shining Through is based on the novel by Susan Issacs and is a melodrama at it's core - but a damn fine one. Lost among the hoopla over the "other" Michael Douglas film that year ("Basic Instinct") Shining Through never got the cred it deserved as a film made in the classic Hollywood style.

The plot is relatively simple, for a film about espoinage : Melanie Griffith, a Jewish secretary, is hired by Michael Douglas for normal secretarial work, and eventually learns that her boss moonlights as a ranking member of the US military. Through a series of cleverly timed events, she is drawn into the world of intelligence and becomes a Nazi Germany spy herself.

All of the actors were at their prime when making this film - Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson join the picture part way through and do an excellent job, as do the leads. Although at it's core it's really a love story, there is enough action and tension to entertain anyone who can suspend the disbelief that Melanie Griffith could become an international spy.

If I make it sound like "Alias", it's not - it's just a wonderfully crafted film that is a worthy addition to any collection, especially anyone who is a fan of classic Hollywood melodramas. Shining Through has never gotten it's due credit - I hope that a wider audience finds it on this excellently priced DVD!

What a great film about courage, patriotism, and honor. This story is about spies during WW2 in Nazi Germany and really takes on a new perspective for the war which has not been well done in other films. The movie has action, romance, and suspense. Not a lot of people have heard of this one, but it is a absolutely great movie.