Les patriotes

This movie can serve as a gold standard for the spy-movie genre. It depicts in unglamorous ways, the life, the torment and catharsis of an intelligence officer. The cast is superb, but it's really director (Rochant) and lead actor (Attal) who are making the powerful and excellent case of what does it mean to work for the state. This case done in subtle tones(Yvan Attal's character rarely speaks), in demonstrating the complex political situation Israel finds itself in constraint manner, and by introducing such a vivid female character, that the viewer (at least male's half) can understand the inner battle of Mossad's officer soul

This excellent thriller and character study of a young Israeli spy was produced in 1993-4. It plays as well as any memorable films of the same milieu, e.g. "Three Days of the Condor", "The Company", "Bourne", "Marathon Man", etc. That is pretty lofty company. I refuse to give away the plot but know that for two hours it will take you on a thrilling mystery ride. The casting and directing compliment a terrific script. Shot in Paris, Tel Aviv, Washington, D.C. and New York City it moves along without the gimmicks (CGI) or insane editing and music that so many films depend on today. Finally, the international cast of French, American and Israeli actors are in perfect harmony. Always good to see Alan Garfield in anything..

What so many French movies lack in storytelling, they make up in humor, irony and self-deprecation. This one takes itself seriously, and it really shouldn't. It never found an audience and was an utter commercial failure when it came out in 1994. To this day, the director seems to think "the press" was responsible. Well, no: the reason it failed is that there is no plot, characters and scenes are utter clichés, cinematography is uninspired and even sound design is poor.

It is utterly vulgar in nature, and sexist. A hooker is shown naked during several long shots, but when the male main character gets up from bed after sex, he wears boxers!

It's also long and slow. Actors were apparently told to insert random silences in their dialogue, sometimes between words, to sound deep? But that's not deep, it's dumb.

Utter waste of time.

Les Patriotes tells the story of a young Jewish Frenchman who decides to emigrate in Israel in order to join the famous Mossad. I don't think the scriptwriters intended to reveal us the truth about the world's most secret service (who can claim to really have solid informations about that?). Yet they wrote an excellent screenplay, worth the best spy movies. Les Patriotes is an exciting description of the daily work of the spies. It is a beautifully-acted movie that doesn't show off and in the same time tells us a lot of things. It is a captivating vision of what a state manipulation is. So, if you have the chance, see it!

I picked this film out of the hundreds of foreign DVD's in Toronto's best video store - Bay Video. I thought it was a recent Israeli production and it wasn't until I got it home I realized the film was a French production made in 1994. However, I wasn't disappointed at all and consider this wonderful film one of the best spy 'thrillers' I have ever seen. Understated like the profession of spying and subtle to the point of seduction this film doesn't fudge the issues surrounding the necessity for such a service to exist in modern Israel nor does it gloss over some of the hard facts when innocents become collateral damage. The acting, the sets, the writing are all first rate and it's probably one of the best reasons to watch this film. I guarantee you won't want it to end without finding out what happens to all the characters.