Spies of Warsaw

Some people say that series is boring, cliché and poorly written, but I don't think so. I had a lot of fun watching "Spies of Warsaw". It has everything required to make interesting thing: good cast and quite good script, pretty locations and some action. Not too much, because it's not typical action movie and shouldn't be considered as one of them. Maybe that's why some people were disappointed with that series. Stories about spies, these more realistic ones, aren't so attractive like James Bond movies... It doesn't mean that "Spies of Warsaw" isn't interesting picture, of course. Even when it has weaker moments, good acting of both English and Polish actors (David Tennant! Marcin Dorociński! Mirosław Zbrojewicz!) lets you forget about it.

I hope that it's not the last co-production of BBC and TVP. That combination seems to have a lot of potential and it definitely shouldn't be wasted.

Sorry, but it is the leading man who mainly disappoints. David Tennant is totally miscast and is not helped by a poor script, awash with clichés.

I have been to Warsaw three times and there was more tension in the air during my visits than here with spies all over the place.

It may have worked with a different lead, as Tennant sleepwalks his way through the scenes and physically has an uncanny resemblance to John Laurie when playing the crofter in the original version of the 39 Steps.

When he twitches those eyebrows he also looks like a mad scientist rather than the smooth Frenchman tempting every woman from Paris to Warsaw to jump into bed with him. Add to that a non-existent personality and you are left with a problem.

There is absolutely no chemistry between Tennant and Janet Montgomery who is very unenthusiastic throughout. Some decent efforts by a few of the supporting cast, but poor old Julian Glover was given a bad hand with some awful lines.

And the continual movement from Paris to Warsaw and back again several times over was very confusing

Sadly quite ridiculous.

Sorry, lots of whining about how slow the pace of the series is. If you have read the source novels you should know that Alan Furst takes his time. They're all about mood, and ambiguity, shadows, and wheels within wheels. I think the series, while not great, catches, visually, a lot of Furst's writing, and ambiguity. If you are expecting Skyfall, don't bother. If you are willing to let the thing roll at it's own pace, it is well done. My review is generally positive despite BBC America's decision to do the thing in four parts in On Demand, with an endless series of exceptionally low rent commercials that break the mood considerably. Several years later: I got to see a full length version without commercials- a huge improvement over the wretched BBC America version. As mentioned, if you are familiar with the novel, it is a more than credible job. David Tennant is always excellent, a pre-Torchwood Burn Gorman, several other familiar faces. Well worth watching on Amazon.

I was referred to this Series when browsing a list of best British spy series, realising that I have seen a little with David Tennant (whom I like) present and all this has been him being a policeman/detective... So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and delved into the world of frivolous glamour, deception and betrayal in a period when particularly smaller nations in Europe had uncertainty and difficulties in many layers.

Well, the events got going, the depiction seems realistic (several episodes based on real events), the cast includes pleasant British character actors (Tennant, Lesser, Haddington) and some also good Polish actors -- so I really can´t say that Spies of Warsaw is protracted or dull. True, I had-have not read the book, but in thrillers, for the sake of delight, I prefer twists and solutions unknown beforehand - it is yet no Hamlet or similar, after all...

Additional plus for the depiction of an era rather unknown today - Poland in the late 1930ies, and with both Warsaw and Berlin being splendid cities with fine architecture destroyed by subsequent war.

David Tennant stars in "Spies of Warsaw," a 2013 miniseries also starring Janet Montgomery, Anton Lesser, Marcin Dorocinski, and Julian Glover.

Most of the film takes place before Poland was invaded. A military attache, Jean-Fracois Mercier (Tennant) has a network of agents and is assigned to Warsaw to see what the Nazis are up to. Mercier has evidence showing that the Nazis are getting ready to invade. However, he is stonewalled by some of his commanders, who doubt the veracity of his evidence.

In the meantime, he falls in love with a beautiful woman, Anna (Montgomery) who currently lives with a Russian.

I see that this miniseries received some lousy reviews. I can understand that if you've read the book; often, a good book doesn't translate well to screen. I haven't read it.

One of the critiques was that an important part of the book was left out, that is, spying on the Germans measuring the width of the roads in the Ardennes to see if their tanks could make it. I'm not sure what miniseries he watched and gave a rotten review to, but that scene was most definitely in the miniseries.

Another review complained about the locations, saying that it looked like Belfast dressed up to look like another country. The movie was filmed in Poland. I guess I'm not sure what film the above comments referred to.

I thought this movie was tense, and if not action-filled, very absorbing. I was interested in the fact that France was so ardent in her commitment to Poland to save it from the Nazis. We see where that went. And the end of the film is based on a real incident I hadn't known about.

David Tennant, from reading the reviews, was not the Mercier of the book. I still liked him.

A note about accents, a tired topic for anyone who reads my reviews. The people in the film are not speaking English with foreign accents. They're speaking their own language, so accents are not necessary. Some of the actors had them because in real life they have accents, but again, they're speaking their own language and the accent is a dialect.

Why would David Tennant be speaking to French people in English with a French accent? It's ridiculous. You notice that Chekov plays are not done with Russian accents. They don't use accents in Shakespeare. Many early films were set in other countries - no accents (example: The Mortal Storm, Zoo in Budapest).