Krieg im Spiegel

No, the movie didn't suck me in. I got sucked into watching it by some highly favorable comments. I should have paid more attention to the ratings.

If you want to watch LeCarre, there are much better examples than this. The pacing is completely off in this movie; as soon as something interesting starts, it is truncated for irrelevant meanderings. Apparently the director wanted to make this a "mood piece" rather than an action movie, and as a result, it never develops any momentum or suspense.

On balance, this is just a somewhat disappointing period piece. Watchable, but nothing more.

Most of the reviews I have given are of films that I saw at the cinema upon its release and have then recently watched again. However, THE LOOKING GLASS WAR is a movie that I never got around to watching at the pictures, therefore, I decided to shell out 3 pounds and buy the DVD. I must say that I am glad I did as I quite enjoyed it. A young Christopher Jones plays a Polish seaman who is recruited by British Intelligence to go into East Germany to check out some missiles in return for being given leave to stay in the UK. The acting was better than I thought it would be and the storyline was OK. I liked the jazzy soundtrack as well. Not a bad film at all and worth the 3 quid I paid.

Since this seems to have just popped up on Amazon Prime 10/2022 I thought I'd save you an 1:48. How you can screw up a LeCarre story is beyond me. This appears to be nothing much more than a showcase to promote the meteor career of Jones. Actually a pretty great cast with some 70s uber babes but ultimately you get filler shots, time sucking montages, weird 70s camera work, and no real spy story. Plenty of footage of Jones with his shirt off, Jones looking into the camera, Jones walking in tight jeans. In the end you feel like it was all a wasted effort and a missed opportunity. Skip it and rewatch the original Tinker Tailor BBC series instead.

Christoper Jones does a great job. And with Ralph Richardson and Sir Tony Hopkins in support you have to have a real experience. Maybe some people weren't happy that Jones wasn't James Bond. I don't think he was ever meant to be. This is an entirely different protagonist...much more realistic and human. Even with the "correct papers" you were guilty until proven innocent once you entered the Soviet Bloc. The danger he faces was as great as any 007. And he does so without the weapons that J. Bond was provided with. Like Bond, a seemingly impossible mission. But with none of the "Tier One" hardware that Bond ever had. Just a man...no super powers...not even a pistol. This "unfair" powers of force provides a deeper and more subtle level of suspense and tension. He can't survive can he? Can he complete his mission? So I don't spoil it for you I won't go on. Let me say this is one of the best Cold War spy movies I've seen and Jones deserves a great deal of credit. Enjoy.

He was an inexperienced man clutched out of crises and thrown into an impossible situation. I think he pulls this off quite well. Very few remember;e the danger and suspense of penetrating East Germany. The constant striving to be free against the murderous boot of the Stasi.

A uniformed boarder guard actually says "Your papers please!" in this drab adaptation of John Le Carre's novel (with Bergmanesque visuals from cameraman Austin Dempster).

First-time director Frank R. Pierson had recently received two Oscar nominations as a scriptwriter when Columbia gambled upon his ability to direct a feature film. Columbia lost, it went out on the graveyard shift in February and Pierson went back to TV for several more years.

Both leads were blessed with sullen good looks but not the ability to speak English and soon disappeared. Fortunately they're backed by a fine line-up of British acting talent who are the ones who make the film worth watching. (As in the earlier Le Carre adaptation 'The Deadly Affair' time is devoted to the unhappy home lives of the minders; and again it's not a pretty sight.)