Brit director Sally Potter's war-torn drama centres on a touching performance by Christina Ricci as a Russian Jewish girl who finds persecution dogging her life just before the Nazis march into Paris in 1940. Johnny Depp adds a charismatic turn as the gipsy horseman who becomes her first lover in a film that occasionally strains credibility but leaves you wanting more. John Turturro (a conceited opera singer), Cate Blanchett (Ricci's flighty flatmate) and Miriam Karlin (their landlady) are also strong and striking.