Head in the Clouds

"Three lives. One destiny."

2004 2h 1m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 238

DramaRomanceWar

Synopsis

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Gilda Bessé shares her Paris apartment with an Irish schoolteacher, Guy Malyon, and Mia, a refugee from Spain. As the world drifts toward war, Gilda defiantly pursues her hedonistic lifestyle and her burgeoning career as a photographer. But Guy and Mia feel impelled to join the fight against fascism, and the three friends are separated.

“Three lives. One destiny.”

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Cast

Charlize Theron
Gilda Bessé
Penélope Cruz
Mia
Stuart Townsend
Guy Malyon
Thomas Kretschmann
Major Thomas Bietrich
Peter Cockett
Max
Gabriel Hogan
Julian Ellsworth
Karine Vanasse
Lisette
David La Haye
Lucien

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Duigan
Writers: John Duigan
Languages: German, English, Spanish, French
Countries: Canada, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: German, English, Spanish, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Duigan, shot by Paul Sarossy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Terry Frewer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dominique Fortin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz and Stuart Townsend carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Three lives. One destiny.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Duigan directs. Paul Sarossy behind the camera. Terry Frewer scores. Dominique Fortin cuts. Produced in Canada, United Kingdom. Dialogue in German, English, Spanish, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 22 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 4 languages: German, English, Spanish, French.
3International production across 2 countries: Canada, United Kingdom.
4Directed by John Duigan, shot by Paul Sarossy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Terry Frewer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Dominique Fortin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz and Stuart Townsend carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Three lives. One destiny.".
9IMDB entry: tt0338097 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 17 themes, including "paris, france", "nazi", "photographer", "spy".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Paul Sarossy
Original score: Terry Frewer
Editing: Dominique Fortin
Production design: Jonathan Lee
Costume design: Mario Davignon
Makeup / hair: Catherine Lavoie
Sound: Gavin Fernandes
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Head in the Clouds (2004)

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John Duigan

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2023-03-25
★ 6/10
A film about idealisms, utopias and harsh realities, which could be much better than it is, but is still good enough to be worth it. There are many movies about romance and love in times of war. John Duigan gives us a film about love, but also about hopes for the future, utopias and the way war and human cruelty end it all in an instant. That old story of idealism versus reality. The film is good, but as a drama it is a little inconsistent and does not work from a romantic point of view. The script begins with the unusual meeting between a young Irish student named Guy and a beautiful and liberal French heiress, Gilda Bessé. They have an affair that, years later, they will resume in Paris, including the young Spanish Mia. The ménage-a-trois ends up when Guy and Mia go to Spain to help the republicans in the Civil War. The defeat in the war and the German invasion of France will later condemn Gilda to a difficult survival, as the lover of an officer of the invading troops... and I really don't want to say more because it would spoil the pleasure of watching the film. As I said, the movie is good, and it has a good story. The problem is that there's a lot here, and there are several sub-plots that come out of nowhere and end up not resulting in anything: it's the case of the tense relationship between Gilda and her rich father, or what happens to Mia's brother. Very little consistency and dramatic solidity, in a script that seems fragile at various times. I'm even willing to forgive that... but it's hard to ignore the way the film confuses love with sexual horniness. Gilda Bessé seems to be anything but a romantic or passionate young woman, and the relationship between her and her partners is very sexual, but not exactly rosy. Despite having a pretty good cast, there are only three actors who really deserve a note and highlight. Penélope Cruz is quite believable in her character, but the director doesn't give her anything that really allows the actress to do something really memorable. Her character is cold, a little shy, and the actress has the ability to impress us more. Stuart Townsend does what he can in his character, but he's not "nerdy" enough for the character he's been given. He's elegant, he's handsome, but that's about it. He's not even an actor who seems capable of combining beauty and intellect in the same character. This makes me think that he was only cast in the film because he is the husband of the remarkable Charlize Theron who, in fact, is the soul of the film and gives us an extraordinary performance, where beauty, sexuality, drama and suffering are perfectly matched. Technically, it's a restrained film, standard Hollywood at the time. There are some aspects that were very well-used, such as the original footage of the war, in black and white, and the way in which the sets and costumes were designed and recreated, managing to show the passage of years and the evolution of the characters very well. The soundtrack, however, could be better, while the cinematography seems a little disconnected from the rest of the work.

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