It seems to be a weekend for classic movies. While Red Addict was under the charms of Eliza and Prof. Higgins, we were under the spell of the Condor. Three Days of the Condor that is. It stars Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway and was directed by the late Sydney Pollack.
Redford stars as Joe Turner, an affably bookish researcher for the CIA. His job consists of studying published spy novels and thrillers in an effort to filter out theories and ideas that could threaten the US. In other words, a sanctioned conspiracy theorist and it’s all very obtuse really, but one day he comes back from picking up the office lunch to find that everyone in his office has been killed. He is forced to go on the run as the killers zero in on him. Along the way he kidnaps Dunaway, who later helps him carry out his plan to get to the bottom of the killings.
This is an absorbing spy thriller that is a credit to the genre. Released after the Watergate scandal, the underlying message of the film is that the government cannot be trusted. The film’s atmosphere is suffused with paranoia and there are enough twists and turns so that the audience never really knows till the end who is the bad guy is. And even then, the reason behind the killings remains obscure. It helps the film a great deal that Redford is such a sympathetic character (due largely to his incredible good looks) and you find yourself rooting for him. This in turn, makes it more plausible that Dunaway’s character, despite being initially kidnapped by Redford, throws here lot in with him, going so far as to tumble into bed with him. A bit of a Stockholm syndrome I suppose. What is remarkable about the film is how well it has held up against the test of time. Its message remains chillingly relevant given the increased surveillance on people everywhere and a stringent policy of keeping tabs on the populace’s habits and goings on. It almost feels like anyone can be the Enemy. Who’s to say that we are any safer now than in the good old days of the Cold War, when we had the enemies clearly marked out?
Redford stars as Joe Turner, an affably bookish researcher for the CIA. His job consists of studying published spy novels and thrillers in an effort to filter out theories and ideas that could threaten the US. In other words, a sanctioned conspiracy theorist and it’s all very obtuse really, but one day he comes back from picking up the office lunch to find that everyone in his office has been killed. He is forced to go on the run as the killers zero in on him. Along the way he kidnaps Dunaway, who later helps him carry out his plan to get to the bottom of the killings.
This is an absorbing spy thriller that is a credit to the genre. Released after the Watergate scandal, the underlying message of the film is that the government cannot be trusted. The film’s atmosphere is suffused with paranoia and there are enough twists and turns so that the audience never really knows till the end who is the bad guy is. And even then, the reason behind the killings remains obscure. It helps the film a great deal that Redford is such a sympathetic character (due largely to his incredible good looks) and you find yourself rooting for him. This in turn, makes it more plausible that Dunaway’s character, despite being initially kidnapped by Redford, throws here lot in with him, going so far as to tumble into bed with him. A bit of a Stockholm syndrome I suppose. What is remarkable about the film is how well it has held up against the test of time. Its message remains chillingly relevant given the increased surveillance on people everywhere and a stringent policy of keeping tabs on the populace’s habits and goings on. It almost feels like anyone can be the Enemy. Who’s to say that we are any safer now than in the good old days of the Cold War, when we had the enemies clearly marked out?
2 commentaires:
glad you found it finally!!! was it at the fnac?
Yes it was in the special coffret for Robert Redford
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