The entry begins:
Agent Zo opens with Zo perched on the edge of the circular hole cut in the floor of the mighty four-engine British Halifax bomber in the seconds before she becomes the only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi-German occupied Poland during the Second World War. The adrenalin rarely drops as Zo served variously as an intelligence officer, resistance courier, Home Army soldier, and the only woman in the Polish elite special forces, the Cichociemni or Silent Unseen, from the early hours of 1 September 1939 to the end of the conflict. She is perfect movie material: brilliant, funny, courageous and highly effective in the fight against Nazism.Visit Clare Mulley's website.
Zo was one of many remarkable women who played crucial active service roles on or behind enemy lines during the war, and I often wonder why they rarely appear on our screens. Before casting, I would want to secure a good screenwriter to ensure that Zo’s role is not diminished, and her achievements not side-lined. Phoebe Waller Bridge could produce the perfect script. Alternatively, I would give Steve McQueen a shot, but perhaps he could direct!
As for actors, I would like someone who reflects Zo’s Polish roots. Resistance in the Second World War usually conjures up images of Paris, but this is very much a Polish story, and all the more resonant for that today. Agnieszka Grochowska could probably do Zo justice, and Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie and Natalie Portman all have Polish roots, so they could also audition. Alternatively,...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Women Who Flew For Hitler.
The Page 99 Test: The Women Who Flew For Hitler.
My Book, The Movie: Agent Zo.
--Marshal Zeringue