She
had one of the best code-names ever. Technically, it might have been more of a
nickname, but “Chichinette,” the French slang word for “pain in the neck” (or perhaps
someplace else) stuck with this French Jewish secret agent. She was recruited
late in the war, but her intel was sufficiently game-changing to earn her a
chest full of medals. Nonagenarian Marthe Cohn tells her story for our benefit
and the many audiences she still regularly addresses in Nicola Hens’ Chichinette:
The Accidental Spy, which opens tomorrow at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan.
Born
Marthe Hoffnung in the German-speaking contested French region of Lorraine, the
blond Cohn had the perfect background to spy on the occupied Germans, despite
her Judaic heritage. Yet, for most of the war, Cohn focused on smuggling refugees
and fugitives to the free zone, on a volunteer basis. She would also help
shepherd most of her family to safety, but not the sister who was her primary
partner in illegal border crossings.
After
the liberation of France, Hoffnung tried to enlist with the free French army,
but she was relegated to clerical duties, until an officer finally recognized
the value of a native German speaker with professional nursing experience. Just
sneaking her into Germany was a neat trick. Many tense moments followed, but the
information she managed to relay back could very well have saved the Allies
months of time and thousands of lives.
It
is a great story, but Hens really takes her time in telling it. Frankly, the
first half of the film is problematically slack, inviting us to watch in rapt
silence as Cohn and her husband Major worry over hotel wifi passwords and the
view from their Airbnb. Cohn’s story is loaded with intrigue and historical
significance, but there is just no denying the dullness of the first forty-some
minutes of hens’ doc.
Fortunately,
things pick up greatly during the second half. Essentially, Hens lets Cohn tell
her story. While she incorporates a few archival pictures, she mostly illustrates
Cohn’s oral history with current footage of the country roads and border
crossings under discussion. The effect is somewhat reminiscent of Lanzmann’s Shoah,
but Cohn’s voiceovers are considerably livelier.
Anything
that spreads awareness of Cohn’s story and the horrors of National Socialism is
a force for good, but judging from Chichinette, we can probably safely
state Cohn is a much more interesting subject than Hens is as a filmmaker. The
85-minute Chichinette is a quick way for viewers to learn about Cohn’s
heroic life, but buying her memoir, Behind Enemy Lines, is recommended
with greater enthusiasm (that way she earns a royalty). It screens tomorrow
afternoon (12/25), Friday afternoon (12/27) and Monday evening (12/30), at the
JCC Manhattan.
