Eye of the Needle (1981)

A Stab at Genius

The Film: Ken Follett's WWII espionage thriller brought to the screen in 1981 by director Richard Marquand.

The basic plot: 'The Needle' is a Nazi spy in Britain, ruthlessly stabbing his enemies as he races to stay a half-step ahead of quite-competent MI5 C.I. agents. In 1944, he must get information and get back to Germany to expose the Patton-Calais deception. Weather and circumstances strand him on remote Storm Island, where he must meet a U-boat.

Acting: Sutherland's icy, reptilian qualities (think Backdraft and Casanova) are perfectly suited to the spy character--he's brilliant. Kate Nelligan delivers a sturdy performance as a plucky resident of Storm Island.

Nice editing; compact, well-paced plot with some interesting twists. Interesting role reversals, sexual metaphors, and atmospherics.

Production values were high; the film has no cheap effects or CG; it stands up well and looks good on the DVD.

Personal enjoyment: The Brits are portrayed as ever-polite but in their own way, even the old gaffers and other common folk are as ruthless as the spy, and all are passionate about helping 'do their bit.'

If you like WWII movies, spy thrillers, Sutherland, or ken Follett novels, by all means buy this little gem.
April 16, 2008

Donald Sutherland does it again...

For some strange reason, Donald Sutherland has presided over the end of several of cinema's previously sure things - the Alistair Maclean thriller (Bear Island), Neil Simon comedies (Max Dugan Returns), Agatha Christie adaptations (Ordeal by Innocence) and, with Eye of the Needle, the WW2 romantic thriller. After frequent demonstrations of his adeptness with a switchblade, his top nazi spy `The Needle' and his bad English accent are shipwrecked on Storm Island, where Kate Nelligan lives with her crippled husband Christopher Cazenove and their badly dubbed child. While Ian Bannen fritters away on the mainland in lukewarm pursuit before his prey can get away with D-Day secrets, the two leads start an affair before things turn nasty. You'd have thought that after the last time Nelligan played a girl called Lucy who rescued a near-drowned stranger turned out (in 1979's Dracula) she'd have learned her lesson...

Miklos Rozsa delivers a vividly romantic score that is both full of overpowering dramatic drive and in completely the wrong picture (it works better on disc) while Richard Marquand's merely functional direction, wildly overrated at the time because the news had just leaked out that he'd been signed to direct Return of the Jedi (`so he must be good' as one critic profoundly put it before finding out what a botched job he made of that assignment), fails to elevate the picture. The result is one of those films you really want to like much more than it'll let you, entertaining enough but still somewhat disappointingly average. The unimpressive non-anamorphic widescreen transfer that's particularly poor on flesh tones and has a few wobbles and a horribly botched end title that has the score laid on twice out of synchronisation (so you can hear the middle of the cue playing at the same time as the beginning, making for a confused cacophony) on the English soundtrack doesn't help.

The laserdisc release included an alternate ending (barely different from the one used) that's missing from the DVD, although the UK disc does restore the original censor trims to avoid an X certificate - but be warned, it's a mere six seconds of footage! The only extra here is the US trailer which goes to great lengths to hide the fact that the Needle is a spy and the film is set in WW2, instead pitching it as a slasher movie!
February 13, 2008

Good Version of Book

This is based on a great novel by Ken Follett and one of the best WWII spy novels I have enjoyed..Follett is a master.

Though often falls short of books, this one doesn't. Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan turn in great performances.

If you liked the book this is worth seeing. February 12, 2008

Forgotten Spy Thriller

This 1981 WW2 Spy thriller with Donald Sutherland is simply amazing. Sutherland is at the top of his game in this film. October 24, 2007

Great Movie

This is a very good movie, a good story. It is one of the few movies made from a book, that follows the story line, and it has the perfect cast. September 30, 2007

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