Netflix is back with $200 million spy thrillers and recognizable movie stars after ‘Red Alert’. Okay, we can give ‘The invisible agent’ a little the benefit of the doubt with respect to the other, although its tackling the underground world of espionage and clandestine agents he stays a little famished and fuzzy to be able to be as crude as he wants.
It seems a bit like the trend of the Russo brothers to present films based on very interesting classic references, although later the final result does not have much to do with what they sell. Anyway, your love for classic spy thrillers is a good excuse to rescue some streaming gems from the 1960s and 1970s that they admire so much. These three same tapes have elements reminiscent of this latest blockbuster.
‘The spy who came in from the cold’ (‘The Spy Who Came In from the Cold’, 1965)
Address: Martin Ritt. Distribution: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Peter van Eyck, Sam Wanamaker.
We would hardly be talking about the spy genre without John Le Carré. In this film by Martin Ritt we find one of the first great films that adapted his novels, with infiltration and espionage in the context of the Cold War. A bit like the Russo movie, there are bitter revelations about government intelligence agencies and how they treat their agents, though this one has an elegance and power that is still very difficult to match.
See on Filmin and for rent on Apple TV | Criticism in Espinof
‘The Mackintosh Man’ (‘The Mackintosh Man’, 1973)
Address: John Huston. Distribution: Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen.
‘The invisible agent’ wants to sell you the harsh reality of the spy, more violent and less glamorous than the one that the great spy tapes sell you. Although more successful is in this great film with Paul Newman, where a British intelligence agent infiltrates an espionage network to expose and dismantle it. With fine direction from John Huston and the muscle of Walter Hill to the script, the film ends up being an interesting mixture of violence and melancholy.
See in Filmin | Criticism in Espinof
‘Jackal’ (‘The Day of the Jackal’, 1973)
Address: Fred Zinnemann. Distribution: Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale, Derek Jacobi, Alan Badel, Cyril Cusack.
This Fred Zinnemann classic plays more on the fringes of espionage, pulling more towards covert assassins who escape all radars but work for large organizations. Something that ‘The invisible agent’ undoubtedly drinks, although the Russo’s needs a good couple of pouts before being able to compare with this muscular and electrifying conspiracy thriller. And even then I would lose, because this film has not lost an iota of strength in all this time.
See on Filmin and for rent on Apple TV and other platforms.