John le Carré

Lately, I've been reading a lot of John le Carré, the former intelligence officer and author of spy novels.

I read his first novel, Call for the Dead (1961).

This is the first time we meet George Smiley, the veteran case officer, who together with Special Branch inspector Mendel solve the apparent suicide of a Foreign Office diplomat.

Call for the Dead is crude by le Carré's standard, and the book feels more like Agatha Christie if she had written cold war spy novels. I don't mean this in an overly negative way, don't get me wrong. It's just that having read some of his other books, I know he can be smoother. Call for the Dead is well worth reading.

Next we have The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963). This is his third novel and it is a masterpiece. We meet Alec Leamas, the former station chief for West Berlin who goes on the hardest mission he's ever known. I don't want to talk more about the plot for fear of spoilers. From beginning to end, it is tense, sharp and kept me on edge until the brilliant finale. If you only want to read one cold war spy thriller in your life, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a good choice.

Last night I finished The Honourable Schoolboy (1977). This is the second book in the Karla trilogy that starts with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974) and ends with Smiley's People (1979). The first and third books were made into TV series starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley, but the second book, The Honourable Schoolboy wasn't, and for purely economic reasons. Most of the book takes place all over south east Asia, like Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Laos. Much of the plot follows Jerry Westerby, a sports journalist and spy, as he chases down a mystery for Smiley. The rest deals with the tensions between Smiley's Circus (MI6), Whitehall and the CIA.

The Honourable Schoolboy is brilliantly written which is lucky because it clocks in at over 600 pages. I do think it's bloated and could have been pared down for a sleeker story. A lot of time is spent on background color, which le Carré does masterfully, but isn't really needed for the main plot. Overall, I liked The Honourable Schoolboy, and I'm glad I read it, just be aware that despite how well written it is, the last 200 pages or so were a slog to get through. It is also the weakest ending I have read from le Carré.

Overall John le Carré was a fantastic writer. He rarely does melodrama, in fact a lot of what happens is understated in a very British way. His first hand experience of intelligence work and espionage allowed him to craft stories that are absolutely believable. This isn't the over the top style of Ian Fleming, you won't meet James Bond anywhere. It's slow, methodical and even inevitable, and when action does happen it hits harder for its general absence. If you want proper cold war espionage, John le Carré is your man.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Gone in 60 Seconds

I have long held the opinion that the best car chase in movies is the one in Bullitt (1968), but some prefer the chase in:

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974).

Gone in 60 Seconds, not to be confused with its remake Gone is Sixty Seconds (2000), is the passion project of H. B. Halicki, who wrote, directed and starred in it. I do mean passion project because Halicki wasn't really a film maker, he was known as the car crash king.

This is the story in a nutshell: Maindrian Pace (Halicki), his sister Pumpkin Chase (Marion Busia) and her husband Eugene Chase own and operate an insurance investigation firm. They use this as a cover to steal cars and they are very good at this. One day, Maindrian accepts a commission from a South American drug lord for 48 cars ranging from muscle cars and sports cars to high end luxury cars. The drug lord pays 200k upfront with the same upon delivery, and some dire threats should they fail to deliver. The real problem is that they only have five days to do this.

One of the first things I noticed is that the dialogue is, well, not good. The interior scenes are also somewhat clumsy and the whole thing has the feel of a student movie made by someone who just started in film school. There is a real good reason for this though: most of the lines were improvised on the spot, and the poor editor had no idea why some scenes were shot, where anything was supposed to go in the final product and when he'd get which scenes. When he complained about the lack of a coherent script, H.B. Halicki said “That's the Dust Bowl. We went around it twice. There's your script”.

There are shots that have no business being where they are, and make zero sense to the ongoing action. It's amateur hour and it shows. This hap hazard way of making movies is tricky and can easily fall apart, and if it wasn't for the car chase, Gone in 60 Seconds wouldn't be remembered at all, never mind have its cult status.

So lets talk about the car chase. Maindrian needs the final car, a 1973 Ford Mustang, code named Eleanor. The cops receive a tip and are on scene as the car is stolen, prompting a 40 minute car chase, which is impressive, but when you remember that the entire movie is 97 minutes, it's even more audacious.

The car chase is the real star of the show, let's be honest here. Without it, Gone in 60 Seconds wouldn't have gained any attention, but this isn't a normal chase. It is absolutely insane. At one point they suffer a real accident, and Halicki's first question when regaining his consciousness was “Did we get the footage?”

Later, he jumps the Mustang 30 feet (9 meters) high and clears 128 feet (39 meters) over some cars, a great shot, but it cost him a compressed spine, which affected his walk for the rest of his days.

I couldn't help but notice how much Gone in 60 Seconds must have inspired the popular series of video games, Grand Theft Auto, as there are several scenes that show actions that I have done in those games, like using a Jerry can to burn a car, how the garage of luxury cars is presented and so on. There is more like this, but that sits in spoiler territory.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes and no. The chase is spectacular, but the rest is completely forgettable. They do a good job showing how destructive a chase like this is on society, and how innocent people get hurt, but the editing and the flow is all over the place. At least the terrible wigs they wear are in-story disguises and aren't supposed to be the characters real hair. If you are curious, do give it a watch, otherwise just look up the actual chase, that is essentially what the movie is about.

Oh yes, is the chase better than Bullitt? No, not in my book. It is very good, but the length drags too much, and despite the stunt work, Bullitt retains the crown.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Duel

I finally, finally watched:

Duel (1971).

This movie is Steven Spielberg's first full movie. It was originally made for TV and clocked in at 70 minutes, but after his mega success with Jaws (1975), Universal studios asked him to add a couple of scenes, in order to pad out the run time to 90 minutes for a theatrical release.

Before Duel, Spielberg had only directed TV episodes and a few shorts. On that list we find one episode of Columbo, two episodes of Night Gallery and such. This was his first proper movie, but you really wouldn't think so.

Duel is based on a short story by Richard Matheson, and was inspired by a real life event he had with a reckless truck driver.

So what is Duel all about? Despite the name conjuring up images of sword fights at dawn, it is a road movie. The main character is David Mann (Dennis Weaver), a mild mannered, non confrontational salesman from California. One morning he sets out on a long drive in his red Plymouth Valiant to meet a client. On the road, he encounters a rusty, dusty gas truck, a 1965 Peterbilt 281. This old monstrosity drives slowly belching exhaust fumes behind it. Annoyed, David overtakes it, thinking no more about it. Seconds later, the truck thunders past him and resumes driving slowly. Frustrated, David drives past the truck again, and now it is on and David has to fight and drive for his life.

This back and forth is the closest thing we get to a motive for the unseen truck driver. We never see his face, and he and David never interact besides driving. The driver, who was stunt driver Carey Loftin, asked Spielberg what the motivation was and Spielberg answered: “You're a dirty, rotten, no-good son of a bitch”. Loftin replied “Kid, you hired the right man”.

Duel is a mix between a serial killer thriller and a monster movie. We see early shades of Jaws and Jurassic Park in the massive grimy truck. The way it shows up suddenly or waits ahead for David to approach is text book monster stuff, but there is nothing fantastic or supernatural here.

Spielberg does an amazing job switching between claustrophobic shots inside the car, and sweeping shots showing how desolate the area is in Southern California. Spielberg also borrowed a camera previously used in Bullitt (1968) that rode very close to the ground in order to raise the feeling of great velocity, while keeping everyone driving at safe speeds.

I could go on, and in fact retell the entire movie, as it can't be spoiled. The important part is the experience. As a story Duel is actually really thin. You need to be in the Plymouth with David and feel his panic as the giant malevolent truck roars up behind him. Like a roller coaster, you can talk about twists and turns, but until you do it yourself it is meaningless.

So, do I recommend this movie? Oh yes! If you like movies, watch Duel, it's as simple as that. It's no wonder Spielberg's career took off, with this movie as a launch pad. It's so simple, but so brilliantly done, down to the fact that you don't get anything on the driver besides a glimpse of a hand and his boots, because Spielberg wanted the truck to be the villain, and it works. If you've ever been in a car on the highway as a large truck speeds past, you know the feeling of being small and squishy. Now imagine that truck is trying to kill you...

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

SAS: Rogue Heroes

This week I watched the first and so far the only season of:

SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022).

SAS: Rogue Heroes is written and created by the prolific Steven Knight, the man behind Peaky Blinders, Shutter Island, Eastern Promises and much much more. He is also a co-creator of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? One can safely say that Knight knows what he's doing.

SAS: Rogue Heroes takes place in North Africa in 1941. Field Marshal Rommel is hammering the British who in turn don't get anything done. One man, Lieutenant David Stirling (Connor Swindells) has an idea. He has gone through the commando school and understands the value of asymmetrical warfare. He gets in touch with a couple of other officers, Lieutenant Paddy Mayne (Jack O'Connell) and Lieutenant Jock Lewes (Alfie Allen) with the idea of creating a regiment that operates on its own, outside the normal chain of command.

As it happens, the chief of intelligence in Cairo, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke (Dominic West) has used a phantom regiment to lure away the Germans, that he calls SAS. The two ideas merge and a group of rough, hardened soldier set forth into the desert to blow up planes and make history.

The first season, with six episodes, was made in 2022, but the second season should air later this year, focusing on the European theater of war.

Visually SAS: Rogue Heroes is a real treat, it is simply gorgeous. The stark desert makes for a strong back drop to the action, the humor and the drama. I found nothing to complain about here.

The actors are superb from smaller side roles to the main characters, no one is pointless and nothing is meaningless. Despite being a story about war, there is character development, and lots of subtle details that really flesh out the characters in a wonderfully subtle way.

What really stands out is the music. When the officers are at the Empire Club, the band plays the swing hits of the time, like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. But, at certain points the music switches to AC/DC, Motörhead and more. At first this really threw me for a loop, but somehow it really works and allows the creators to make a point. A dangerous journey might start with AC/DC's Highway to Hell and during the complete destruction of a German airfield, they blast Motörhead's Overkill. As a fan of such music I was delighted. Even though it is a brave choice.

So, far so good but are there any drawbacks? Sure. Some of the story beats are really obvious. If a character thinks too much about his love back home, is it a surprise that he's not long for this world? Things like that, that should be shocking, but are pretty clearly telegraphed. Not a deal breaker by any means, but in a show this well made, one would hope they could have been more subtle with it.

So, do I recommend this show? Absolutely! If you have any interest in WWII you need to watch SAS: Rogue Heroes. It's not Band of Brothers good, but it comes very close, and I hope the second season is out soon!

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!