La maison Russie

Lights Up the Screen. Much better after a 2nd or 5th time viewing ! Volume On High First Saw 30 years ago. Aging well The Movie Stars Shine

In a nutshell: a Russian missile scientist, nicknamed Danté offers an obscure Brit publisher, Barley Blair, data that shows Russian missiles are junk.

The '8' is my old rating-I might revise this to 9 or 10 after a fresh viewing. Here's why: 1. I believe le Carré must have had Connery in mind for the lead character, Barley Blair. Truth is: Connery was born to play this role-no one else comes to mind. Barley is a drinker, publisher, philosopher at large. A bit of an anarchist, but firmly non-political. A jazz clarinetist who likes to gab about dreams of world peace-but he really does NOT want to get involved in the process. Connery is perfect.

2. Filmed partially in Russia, the scenery of Moscow & Leningrad is spectacular! This was an early (1990) production with Russian cooperation.

3. Tremendous supporting cast: Roy Scheider (from'Jaws') as Russel Sheridan, the chief agent for US Intelligence, has to play a character of many qualities, above all, an optimist for truly ending the Cold War. When things don't go as expected, he tells the team, 'Put the stools on the bar-TIL next time'. Honorable mention: John Mahoney as 'Brady', the super spy who has the ear of all the American higher-ups, including the President (in the book, Brady is given godlike status-note what he says about the 'deal' being offered by Danté.). And many others! Nice to see a young Martin Clunes as an orderly-long before his Doc Martin days.

4. Not an action film, no sex scenes but some harsh language-but, basically a dramatic study of the Cold War's conclusion. Carré was correct in pondering that even if the USSR missile system lagged way behind the Allied side, would the USA put thousands out of work by shutting down their production?

5. Fabulous irony. Danté tells Blair that 'the men in grey suits came to get his father, & they will come to get you, too!' Barley, like us, is reluctant to accept the notion that the 'good guys' are just as ruthless, but consider how strongly the Americans suspect Blair of complicity, when all indicators show that he is just not interested in money nor political matters.

I have read a few John Le Carre books (although not The Russia House) and was not as impressed as most other people seemed to be. People say that the movie is slow and cerebral (and it is) but really that is how Le Carre's books read. Sean Connery never puts in a bad performance, and neither does Michelle Pfeiffer. And it never hurts that she is sooooo beautiful. Klaus Maria Brandauer is also always good and still is here. The problem is the script, which relates back to the source material. It is a little bit of a bore. Not badly, just a bit. It looks like the filmmakers were so proud to be filming in the USSR, that they went a little overboard. Not every place in Russia is St. Basil's and the Winter Palace. Overall the film is OK.

The Russia House

I must confess, this is easily my favourite film. I have watched only a handful of films more than once. This film I have watched at least twenty times but by the time you read this it will be many more since I watch it at least every 6 weeks or so. I sit down with a bottle of genuine Russian vodka, a small tin of red caviar and some hard white bread, I turn up the dolby 5.1 and soak up the experience. Why is this film so good? Well for a start it is from a book by John LeCarre who must be our best living author. Who else researches a book so thoroughly? Every location has been checked, every character totally believable, with an intelligent plot.

Secondly the screenplay by Tom Stoppard is faultless. Having read the book first, I could not believe how faithfully Stoppard made his screenplay- chunks of LeCarre dialogue are faithfully copied. Then there is the acting. There are memorable performances from Sean Connery (Barley) and Michel Pfeiffer(Katya), the beautiful Russian heroine. Klaus Maria Brandauer wins my "best supporting actor" award as the totally believable Russian scientist. There are so many memorable lines of dialogue in this film. Brandauers line "If I will be a hero, will you act like a merely decent human being" always brings a lump to my throat. Barley's tongue in cheek replies to his CIA interrogators are wonderful. What gives this film such a feeling of authenticity are the locations which are all genuine Moscow and St Petersburg. Already Moscow has changed a lot since this film was made. The lovely old National hotel shown in the film has been demolished and replaced with a modern nonentity, so this film is rapidly becoming a piece of history. The buildings are changing but the same faceless KGB operators are still there. How can one flawed man fight the power of the spymasters. Barley shows how to do it. What a hero! Does it have any faults?If only Ken Russell had stuck to directing and left acting to actors.

As a great admirer of John Le Carre, I watched this film with high expectations & although the story wasn't the usual Le Carre (such as 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold'), I enjoyed it immensely. It is a combination of a good old-fashioned romance & a look at what happens when an ordinary man is brought into the world of espionage. Connery is very good as the boozy, world-weary publisher who considers personal relationships more important than Cold War one-upmanship. Michelle Pfeiffer, apart from being very pleasing to the eye as usual, was also pretty believable as the Russian trying to do the right thing. What's more, Klaus Maria Brandauer deserves an honourable mention as well. OK, the plot is complicated & sometimes hard to follow, as are most of Le Carre's works (& also, doubtless, the real world of espionage), but it is worth the effort. If you are seeking a simple good guy beats bad guy film, then don't watch this or any other realistic spy film. If, however, you want a story that manages to combine cynicism & romance, I recommend this one.