WOULD YOU TRUST THIS WOMAN?

Anglo-Israeli businesswoman Nessa Stein (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is working hard on a project that will connect the West Bank with optical fibre cables, but then the son of a close friend is kidnapped… The man behind The Shadow Line (2011) delivered another complex and exciting, well-directed miniseries, one portraying the eternal conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the unscrupulous intelligence operations going on beneath the surface. The story follows a winding path, but Gyllenhaal holds it all together, symbolizing the conflict and providing a lot of nuance to a leading character that isn’t always easy to embrace. Stephen Rea and Janet McTeer are a joy to watch as seasoned spies. 

2014-Britain. Made for TV. 464 min. Color. Produced by Hugo Blick, Abi Bach. Written and directed by Hugo Blick. Cast: Maggie Gyllenhaal (Nessa Stein), Andrew Buchan (Ephra Stein), Stephen Rea (Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle), Lubna Azabal, Janet McTeer, Katherine Parkinson.

Trivia: Originally shown in eight episodes; in some cases nine internationally.

Golden Globe: Best Actress (Gyllenhaal).

Last word: “My political sympathies and/or ideologies are not relevant to the story which stands on its own particular platform. ‘The Honourable Woman’ is a work of fiction and yes, it does look at real and current politics in the Middle East but, I am certainly not offering any actual, specific answers to such a complex and emotionally provocative issue except to explore what happens to fictional characters who do. My total interest is in the journeys my fictional characters take towards, or away from, personal reconciliation and it is only this that informs both the story’s arc and style.” (Blick, BBC)

ABOVE AVERAGE

IMDb