Intriguing when it isn't confusing or all over the place, this typically convoluted 60's cold war thriller has some very interesting elements but because the major characters have so many issues in their creation, this film is majorly flawed. The issue is both with the script and the direction, and considering the fact that it's the legendary Sidney Lumet who was behind the camera, that is very disappointing.
A meeting between James Mason and Robert Flemyng in a London park leads to the revelation that Flemyng allegedly later committed suicide, and meetings with his widow, Simone Signoret, proved to be disappointing. She's basically the walking dead with little to live for it seems, and Mason finds equal frustration in dealing with others involved in this bizarre plot. They include Roy Kinnear, Harry Andrews, Maximilian Schell and his cheating shrew of a wife, the younger Harriet Anderson.
As usual with films like this, it is technically excellent with great location footage all over London (including some locations I've never seen on film before), a fantastic Quincy Jones score and the tight editing to aide in the well done photography. A sequence involving a rehearsal of a bad production of "Macbeth" is amusing, especially the cameo by Lynn Redgrave. But the narrative of the film is very frustrating, and to spend nearly 2 hours trying to put all the pieces of this puzzle together is problematic in making the film enjoyable as a whole. Not completely without merit however, I enjoyed watching it even if much of it had me scratching my head.
A meeting between James Mason and Robert Flemyng in a London park leads to the revelation that Flemyng allegedly later committed suicide, and meetings with his widow, Simone Signoret, proved to be disappointing. She's basically the walking dead with little to live for it seems, and Mason finds equal frustration in dealing with others involved in this bizarre plot. They include Roy Kinnear, Harry Andrews, Maximilian Schell and his cheating shrew of a wife, the younger Harriet Anderson.
As usual with films like this, it is technically excellent with great location footage all over London (including some locations I've never seen on film before), a fantastic Quincy Jones score and the tight editing to aide in the well done photography. A sequence involving a rehearsal of a bad production of "Macbeth" is amusing, especially the cameo by Lynn Redgrave. But the narrative of the film is very frustrating, and to spend nearly 2 hours trying to put all the pieces of this puzzle together is problematic in making the film enjoyable as a whole. Not completely without merit however, I enjoyed watching it even if much of it had me scratching my head.