The Looking Glass War (1970)
Country: GB
Technical: Eastmancolor/scope 107m
Director: Frank R. Pierson
Cast: Christopher Jones, Pia Degermark, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Richardson, Paul Rogers, Susan George
Synopsis:
When a drunk MI6 operative is knocked flying by a truck in the dark at Stockholm airport, HQ conclude that he has been assassinated and mount a knee-jerk operation in response. They send an ill-trained Polish sociopath to collect photographs of a Russian missile in East Germany, photographs it transpires do not exist, and he is almost immediately detected by the Stasi police.
Review:
Le Carré's conceit here that the young Pole is a second-generation casualty of a continuing state of war between Britain and Germany, a pawn in the pocket of the MI6 top brass, gets somewhat lost in sloppy storytelling, stilted acting and a travelogue music soundtrack. The result is no doubt one of the film adaptations he was less happy with. Nevertheless, there are good, if not brilliant, performances from Jones and Hopkins, and sequences such as the passage behind the iron curtain work well enough, even if the daytime scenes quite clearly do not match the night-time ones and the locations are clearly Spain.
Country: GB
Technical: Eastmancolor/scope 107m
Director: Frank R. Pierson
Cast: Christopher Jones, Pia Degermark, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Richardson, Paul Rogers, Susan George
Synopsis:
When a drunk MI6 operative is knocked flying by a truck in the dark at Stockholm airport, HQ conclude that he has been assassinated and mount a knee-jerk operation in response. They send an ill-trained Polish sociopath to collect photographs of a Russian missile in East Germany, photographs it transpires do not exist, and he is almost immediately detected by the Stasi police.
Review:
Le Carré's conceit here that the young Pole is a second-generation casualty of a continuing state of war between Britain and Germany, a pawn in the pocket of the MI6 top brass, gets somewhat lost in sloppy storytelling, stilted acting and a travelogue music soundtrack. The result is no doubt one of the film adaptations he was less happy with. Nevertheless, there are good, if not brilliant, performances from Jones and Hopkins, and sequences such as the passage behind the iron curtain work well enough, even if the daytime scenes quite clearly do not match the night-time ones and the locations are clearly Spain.
Country: GB
Technical: Eastmancolor/scope 107m
Director: Frank R. Pierson
Cast: Christopher Jones, Pia Degermark, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Richardson, Paul Rogers, Susan George
Synopsis:
When a drunk MI6 operative is knocked flying by a truck in the dark at Stockholm airport, HQ conclude that he has been assassinated and mount a knee-jerk operation in response. They send an ill-trained Polish sociopath to collect photographs of a Russian missile in East Germany, photographs it transpires do not exist, and he is almost immediately detected by the Stasi police.
Review:
Le Carré's conceit here that the young Pole is a second-generation casualty of a continuing state of war between Britain and Germany, a pawn in the pocket of the MI6 top brass, gets somewhat lost in sloppy storytelling, stilted acting and a travelogue music soundtrack. The result is no doubt one of the film adaptations he was less happy with. Nevertheless, there are good, if not brilliant, performances from Jones and Hopkins, and sequences such as the passage behind the iron curtain work well enough, even if the daytime scenes quite clearly do not match the night-time ones and the locations are clearly Spain.