Six Minutes to Midnight (2020)

Introduction

Six Minutes to Midnight is a 2020 British war drama film directed by Andy Goddard from a screenplay loosely based on a true story by Goddard, Celyn Jones and Eddie Izzard, starring Izzard, Judi Dench, Carla Juri, James D’Arcy and Jim Broadbent.

Outline

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the Augusta-Victoria College is a finishing school for daughters of the Nazi elite, located in the English coastal town of Bexhill-on-Sea. The school is under surveillance by the British secret service and the English teacher Wheatley is a government agent. Realising his cover has been blown, he flees to town, but disappears before he can report to his handler, Colonel Smith. Another agent, Captain Thomas Miller, who is half-German and speaks the language fluently, is sent to replace him. When the girls head to the beach for a swim, they find Wheatley’s body washed into the shallows.

Miller looks for clues and during a party he overhears a German diplomat tell PT instructor Ilse Keller, herself a former pupil, of plans to secretly repatriate the students to Germany. Miller rushes to town to tell Smith the news, but Keller follows him, shoots Smith and frames Miller for it. Now wanted for murder and unable to prove his credentials, Miller attempts to hide from the police.

Despite disguising himself as a bandsman in a stolen uniform and joining a parade, he is caught and incarcerated in the local police cells, from which he is extracted by government agents Captain Drey and Corporal Willis. Miller reveals his identity as a British agent to Drey, offering a microfilm stashed at the school as evidence of his role. They take the handcuffed Miller back to the school to recover the film, a copy of Keller’s list of British spies in Germany. At the school, Drey is revealed to be a Nazi sympathiser, but Miller overpowers him and goes on the run again. Local bus driver Charlie sees him along the road, and drives him to his farm, where, believing his story, he uses a hacksaw to remove the cuffs. Miller finds a phone box miles from anywhere, and has just enough time to pass on the code phrase “Six Minutes to Midnight” to his superiors before Drey and Willis arrive. Miller, realising that Willis is unaware of Drey’s pro-Nazi sympathies, starts talking. Drey turns and shoots Willis as his cover has been blown; Miller runs for it, and Drey takes his time casually shooting at Miller before sighting for the kill. Before Drey can fire at Miller again, the dying Willis shoots his superior.

Miller returns to the school, where headmistress Miss Rocholl finds her charges all gone. They have been led, some reluctantly, by Keller to a clifftop where they form two lines to mark out a landing strip as the sun begins to set. A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-52 arrives and the mädchen light their flares and hold them aloft, but a following RAF Spitfire forces the plane to turn away just as Miller and Rocholl pull up in Willis’ car. Keller pulls a gun, intending to shoot rebellious student Gretel, but Miller, Rocholl and Gretel convince her not to; the girls run to Rocholl, and Keller surrenders to Miller.

A few days later, two days after Germany invades Poland, Miller says goodbye to Rocholl in her office at the school, telling her the girls will remain in her care until a solution can be found. The girls sing a parting chorus of “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” as he leaves. From a radio comes Neville Chamberlain’s voice announcing that Britain is at war with Germany.

Cast

Eddie Izzard as Captain Thomas Miller
Carla Juri as Ilse Keller
James D’Arcy as Captain Drey
Celyn Jones as Corporal Willis
David Schofield as Colonel Smith
Jim Broadbent as Charlie
Dame Judi Dench as Miss Rocholl
Maria Dragus as Astrid
Tijan Marei as Gretel
Franziska Brandmeier as Beatrix
Luisa-Céline Gaffron as Sigrid
Bianca Nawrath as Paula
Daria Wolf as Leta
Kevin Eldon as Police Sergeant Simmons
Nigel Lindsay as Wheatley

Production

Eddie Izzard first wrote the script with Celyn Jones, having acted together in the BBC wartime drama Castles In The Sky. The story takes place in Bexhill-on-Sea where Izzard grew up. Izzard’s former girlfriend, Sarah Townsend, was originally set to direct the film following previous collaborations on documentaries with Izzard. Andy Goddard, who is known for his work on Downton Abbey was later announced as director. The same day, Judi Dench was cast as the headmistress. Lionsgate distributed the film domestically, with the international distribution rights currently up for sale.

Principal photography began on 03 July 2018 and ran for six weeks, shooting in Wales and various locations around the UK.

Release

The film was released in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2021 by Sky Cinema. It was previously scheduled to be released on 29 May 2020, by Lionsgate, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IFC Films distributed the film in the United States, where it was also released on 26 March 2021.

The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Trivia

The title of the film is nothing to do with the Doomsday Clock, which was not introduced until eight years after the events of the film, and is nothing to do with British Intelligence.
- As the character of Captain Drey explains in the film itself, it refers to Miller’s Intelligence phone contact number which is Whitehall 1154.
The names on the Anglo-German Fellowship document are as follows: Eckhard Schafer, Jurgen Fischer, Kurt Weber, Heinrich Krause, Hans Fuchs, Werner Schmidt, Helmut Baumann, Frau Sofia Mayer, George Johnson, Lady Gillian Syth, Edward Chapman, Harold Cole, Mrs. Norah Briscoe, Raymond Davis Hughes, Dr. Arthur Owens, and Duncan Scot* (*The final letter(s) of Duncan’s name were cut off in frame).
Snapshots of the actual school, classrooms, and schoolgirls were shown before the end credits.
Epilogue: “The Augusta-Victoria college for girls, Bexhill-on-Sea, was the first and last school of its kind in Britain.
- It opened in 1932 and was closed in the summer of 1939.”

Production & Filming Details

Director(s):
- Andy Goddard
Producer(s):
- Alex Ashworth … co-producer
- Paul Baker … associate producer
- Trevor Beattie … executive producer
- Emma Berkofsky … executive producer
- Laura Brook … associate producer
- Pauline Burt … executive producer
- Tim Dennison … line producer
- Andy Evans … producer
- Joshua Gornell … associate producer
- Luke Gornell … associate producer
- Russell Harper … associate producer
- Suzy Izzard … executive producer (as Eddie Izzard)
- Celyn Jones … executive producer
- Zygi Kamasa … executive producer
- Joe Kotroczo … line producer: additional photography
- Helen Lee-Kim … executive producer
- Andrew Mackie … executive producer
- Sean Marley … producer
- Deepak Nayar … executive producer
- Christina Papagjika … executive producer
- Adam Partridge … executive producer
- Richard Payten … executive producer
- Matthew Salloway … executive producer (as Matt Salloway)
- Ade Shannon … producer
- David Swales … associate producer
- Sarah Townsend … producer
- Laure Vaysse … producer
Writer(s):
- Suzy Izzard … (story by) (as Eddie Izzard) and
- Celyn Jones … (story by)
- Celyn Jones … (screenplay by)
- Suzy Izzard … (screenplay by) (as Eddie Izzard)
- Andy Goddard … (screenplay by)
Music:
- Marc Streitenfeld
Cinematography:
- Chris Seager … director of photography
Editor(s):
- Mike Jones
Production:
- Ffilm Cymru Wales
- Mad As Birds
- Reliance Entertainment Productions 6
- West Madison Entertainment
Distributor(s):
- Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (Netherlands, 2021)(theatrical)
- IFC Films (United States, 2021)(theatrical)
- Shaw Organisation (Singapore, 2021)(theatrical)
- Spentzos Films (Greece, 2021)(theatrical)
- Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (Netherlands, 2021)(DVD)
- Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (Netherlands, 2021)(VOD, video)
- Pris Audiovisuais (Portugal, 2022)
- Sky (United Kingdom, 2021)(TV)
- Transmission (Australia, 2021)
Release Date: 25 September 2020 (Ireland).
Running time: 99 minutes.
Rating: 12A.
Country: UK.
Language: English.