British director John Duigan (WIDE SARGASSO SEA, FLIRTING, SIRENS) takes on epic grandeur with HEAD IN THE CLOUDS, a relentless tale of love and romance, war and high society, personal sacrifice and the greater good. Charlize Theron, fresh off her Oscar for MONSTER, stars as the very rich and free-spirited Gilda, a beautiful blonde socialite who enjoys parties, champagne, and sex. However, she gets a little more serious upon meeting Guy (Stuart Townsend), an Irishman studying at Cambridge who believes that he must join the fight in the Spanish Civil War. Penelope Cruz plays Mia, Gilda's Spanish protegee who had to give up her dancing career because of a bad leg and now is studying to become a nurse. As Guy and Mia consider going to Spain, Gilda takes their possible leaving personally, casting them aside as she pursues other interests that turn out to be far more dangerous than anyone could have imagined. Duigan's film focuses on a fascinating section of society from the 1920s through the end of World War II, as the fancy living of the Roaring Twenties became a memory with the coming of the Great Depression and, ultimately, World War II. Theron is excellent as a modern woman with liberal ideas--but only when it comes to herself and her own situation. Moving primarily between Paris, London, and Spain, HEAD IN THE CLOUDS is a remarkable journey through one of the most diverse and difficult periods of the 20th century, when the future of the world hung in the balance.