Russia House (1990)

Intelligent casting, strong performances, and the persuasive chemistry between Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer prove the virtues in director Fred Schepisi's well-intended but problematic screen realization of this John Le Carré espionage thriller. At its best, The Russia House depicts the bittersweet nuances of the pivotal affair between a weary, alcoholic London publisher (Connery) and the mysterious Russian beauty (Pfeiffer) who sends him a fateful manuscript exposing the weaknesses beneath Soviet defense technology. Connery's Barley is a gritty, all-too-human figure who's palpably revived by his awakening feelings for Pfeiffer's wan, vulnerable Katya, whose own reciprocal emotions are equally convincing. Together, they weave a poignant romantic duet.

The problems, meanwhile, emanate from the story line that brings these opposites together. Le Carré's novels are absorbing but typically internal odysseys that seldom offer the level of straightforward action or simple arcs of plot that the big screen thrives on. For The Russia House, written as glasnost eclipsed the cold war's overt rivalries, Le Carré means to measure how old adversaries must calibrate their battle to a more subtle, subdued match of wits. Barley himself becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manuscript because British intelligence chooses to use him as cat's paw rather than become directly involved. Such subtlety may be a more realistic take on the spy games of the recent past, but it makes for an often tedious, talky alternative to taut heroics that Connery codified in his most celebrated early espionage role.

If the suspense thus suffers, we're still left with an affecting love story, as well as some convincing sniping between British and U.S. intelligence operatives, beautifully cast with James Fox, Roy Scheider, and John Mahoney. Veteran playwright Tom Stoppard brings considerable style to the dialogue, without solving the problem of giving us more than those verbal exchanges to sustain dramatic interest. --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com essential video

Tough to rate....

Ok, here goes:

This movie is a bit of a tough watch, and a tough one to rate. The positives are the acting - Connery, Pfeiffer, Brandenauer, etc all play their parts very well. And the settings were good - Russia looked like what we (American point of view, here) imagine it to be, and the same for Portugal...

I'd like to give it more than 3 stars, just for the above reasons and the fact that I personally liked the theme.

Unfortunately, the plot is tedious a la the LeCarre novels of the Karla trilogy (Tinker Tailor, Smiley's People, etc) written for 1970s pseudo-intellectualism with very little of the action we've come to expect from "spy thrillers" such as the Tom Clancey genre. The plot can leave you yawning at times and its easy to get destracted watching it unfold in the first three-quarters of the movie. And once that happens, you've lost the story.

Some specific points:
I mentioned the acting above, but one draw back was the somewhat stereotyped portrayal of the characters (not the actors' fault): the Brits are all understated, "old boy" public school establishment types; the Americans are brash, somewhat impatient and with some strong language; the Russians are all intellectual and fatalistic....Way too stereotypical for good character development.

Connery and Pfeiffer seemed a mismatch to me, though both played their roles well. It might have come off better with a perhaps slightly younger actor for Barley (rather than Connery) or an older female actor for Katya (Pfeiffer). I think the latter would have been best.

I'm uncertain as to what the denouement was meant to be: the revelation of Dante's intention with the manuscript he gave the West, or Barley meeting Pfeiffer and her family at the docks in Portugal as they defected?

The music was good, but was played redundantly throughout the film. It needed at least some VARIETY.

Not a bad flick, but its NOT a "spy movie". Its a drama. So be prepared to pay close attention; this isn't a casual watch. March 8, 2008

russian house

great movie...shows russian life and living conditions as they are in the real world...been there done that....james February 23, 2008

boring

I am not trying to be witty here but this is probably the worse movie I have ever seen. Yes, I am experienced with watching a lot of movies. I have even taken a film class. Now my grade in film is not important and don't ask what it is. The point is...this is the worse movie ever. It's as if the director woke up and took out his bottle and said let me think... No neurons firing! Well if you watch it...do it at your own risk. You are sure to be bored.
Or maybe the movie was so good that I missed the plot.
July 20, 2007

Checking Out The Cracks in Glasnost

The movie "Russia House," starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, is based on the spy novel of the same name, by that master spy-meister, the British John LeCarre. It's a very acute look at Russia, just as their "Glasnost," policy of openness begins to end --but not quite-- the cold war. The talented British playwright Tom Stoppard adapted the script, largely faithful to the novel. The respected director Fred Schepisi helmed. Like most of the movies adapted from LeCarre's oeuvre, it reflects his extraordinary abilities with plotting and dialogue. Though, mind you, the dialogue is quite mannered, as also reflects LeCarre's works, not to mention Stoppard's.

The plot, set in London, Russia, and some other glamorous continental cities, concerns an informant, unknown to the British Secret Service, MI5, who has suddenly popped up, in this period of glasnost, with very valuable, top secret data as to the Russian military's preparedness. The Secret Service doesn't quite know what to make of it, so they press Scott Barley Blair (Sean Connery), an alcoholic publisher specializing in Russian subjects, into service. He's to go to Russsia (several times, it turns out) to locate this most secret of spies. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with Michelle Pfeiffer, never better as an actress, nor more beautiful, as a single mother who works in publishing.

The movie shows us quite a lot of snow, and life as it was lived in Russia at the time. The everyday struggles for the nonprivileged, as Pfeiffer's character, thankfully for us, is. Three generations living cramped in a tiny apartment, the queuing for necessities, the rarity of obtaining new clothes. The privileges of the privileged: the nice cars, the dachas (the greatly-desired country homes), the designer duds. It further deals with the usual suspicions between the British and American secret services. Finally, it gives us an honest, unsensational, non-mawkish view of middle-aged love, though it is burdened with a Hollywood happy ending that you won't find in the book.

Sean Connery shows us a side of him we don't often see in this movie: tenderness. His sax-playing among Russian friends (voiced by Branford Marsalis), is quite moving. Klaus Maria Brandauer is excellent as "Dante," the unusually secret volunteer spy. Pfeiffer does very well, as mentioned above. There was also some money spent on the supporting cast: Americans J.T. Walsh, Roy Scheider, John Mahoney. Brits, Ian McNeice, James Fox, Michael Kitchen, David Threlfall.

"Russia House" was written, and filmed, at the optimum time for its plot, and thereby acquires a resonance it might otherwise not have had. It was a lucky break for author, filmmakers, and us.
March 4, 2007

The Russia House

Great movie. Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer play very convincing parts. It is a very believable story. January 31, 2007

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