30 Essential Spy Films - Page 4 of 6


Ministry Of Fear“Ministry Of Fear” (1944)
Graham Greene didn’t mince words about his dissatisfaction with Fritz Lang‘s take on his “Ministry Of Fear,” and Lang himself supposedly apologized to the author for making it, but on closer inspection, this adaptation is a similar case to Stephen King‘s misplaced complaints about “The Shining.” Lang had an ingrained understanding of the cinematic art form, and is perhaps first among all directors in knowing how to mold palpable atmosphere out of space. So, sure, Setton Miller‘s screenplay takes some liberties with Greene’s story and the protagonist Stephen Neale, portrayed with apt anxiety by Ray Milland, who gets released from an asylum and finds himself accidentally embroiled in a Nazi spy ring he feels compelled to stop. But the film’s atmosphere is dense with paranoia, sustained by continuous thematic devices (spooky seances, representations of guilt-riddled consciences) to make it a hypnotic viewing experience. Whether it’s with a “blind man” stealing a cake, or through a Scotland Yard inspector’s silhouette, Lang’s derisive take on Nazism is finely crafted in this much-too-eagerly dismissed tale of delirious espionage.

Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (2011) — Ethan Hunt
With Christopher McQuarrie‘s latest installment of the Tom Cruise franchise still raking in the cash worldwide, and probably on track to become the biggest earner in the “Mission: Impossible” series to date, it’s maybe a little quaint of us to choose Brad Bird’s last go-round as emblematic of the best of the ‘M:I’ movies. And yet here we are, because despite really enjoying ‘Rogue Nation,’ ‘Ghost Protocol’ remains the cumbersomely-titled installment closest to our hearts. There are reasons: the Burj Khalifa sequence, the sandstorm chase and the various punch-em-ups deliver some truly thrilling action, but mostly it was the first time that Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, whose only discernible personality trait to that point was being much, much better at everything than everyone else, suddenly actually felt like a person, made of flesh and blood and sense of humor. Obviously, he’s still a person who’s better at everything than everyone else, but if Bird wasn’t the first to suggest Hunt could get physically hurt, he was certainly the first to make you care about it.

A Most Wanted Man“A Most Wanted Man” (2014)
Watching Philip Seymour Hoffman’s quietly staggering central performance here as Gunther Bachmann — the hard-living, perpetually frazzled capo of an underground web of Hamburg-based intelligence operatives — is to be reminded of the actor’s gift for mining his character’s humanity from unlikely sources. It’s also an uncomfortable reminder of Hoffman’s bleak exit from this world, as an all-encompassing sense of existential dread practically exudes from him in this sleek, morbid spy picture from Anton Corbijn. Bachmann and his team are on the tail of one Issa Karpov when the film begins, a half-Russian/half Chechen rebel with ties to militant jihadist groups, who’s seen wandering the busy streets and narrow alleyways of Hamburg like a ghost. Brought in to assist in Karpov’s capture are a young female litigator (Rachel McAdams, perhaps miscast) and a sinister banker with a storied family history (a chilly Willem Dafoe). And yet the plot, for all its myriad complications (the source material is by John Le Carre) matters less than the nuanced, stylish manner in which Corbijn and his team go about things. It’s a crackling, absorbing, underrated film, and it’s Hoffman’s last great performance.

Munich“Munich” (2005)
To our minds the best of Steven Spielberg’s more recent awards-friendly pictures, or indeed any of his recent pictures, “Munich” is a surprisingly brutal and complex take on real-life spycraft, where vengeance, rather than information, is the name of the game. Based, as they say, on actual events, it’s set in the aftermath of the massacre of eleven Israeli Olympic team members by the Palestinian terror group Black September, focusing on the Mossad response, as Avner Kaufman (a terrific Eric Bana) assembles a team (including Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz and Ciarán Hinds) to track down and kill Palestinians allegedly involved in the massacre. Spielberg directs some of the most gripping action of his career, but there’s little joy to be taken: like the later, simiilar “Zero Dark Thirty,” this is about the price we pay for obsession and vengeance, and the moral cost of what we do in the name of justice. Tony Kushner’s screenplay juggles the ethical questions while letting the film move like a Le Carré story, and the cast (with Mathieu Amalric, Hinds and Michael Lonsdale as other standouts) give the piece much-needed texture and even humor. It only falters in the closing minutes, but otherwise, it gives us hope that Spielberg’s upcoming “Bridge Of Spies” could be another espionage classic.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969) — James Bond
It’s perverse to hold up the only George Lazenby outing as representative of the whole Bond franchise, as opposed to a Connery classic “Goldfinger” or billion-dollar Craig entry “Skyfall,” but hey, we’re perverts. And while there’s a case to be made for “From Russia With Love” or “Casino Royale” too, ‘OHMSS’ is definitely one of the best stand-alone Bonds there is. Director Peter Hunt went for a more realist vibe, notwithstanding the plot, which involves Telly Savalas‘ Blofeld contaminating the world’s food supply by, er, brainwashing an international coterie of beautiful women (like Joanna Lumley), all dressed in sexy riffs on national costume. Jettisoning the sci-fi gadgets, delivering some great action (ski chase!), and boasting perhaps the best Bond score ever (Louis Armstrong‘s lovely “We Have All The Time In The World” doesn’t hurt either), the film’s biggest draw, however, is Diana Rigg. As the only woman Bond ever marries, Rigg is an unusually substantial Bond girl, and her fate provides the series with a rare moment of real emotional connection.