Hey everyone! Zach Who Watches Movies here with this weeks
"Flashback Friday". This week’s slate of new releases offered me a
wide variety of topics to choose from, making this a fairly difficult decision.
With Melissa McCarthy's new movie Spy out today and Kingsman: The Secret Service
coming out on BluRay on Tuesday I figured I'd keep the focus on just those
types of movies. So I took to twitter and asked you guys what your favorite spy
movies are. Setting aside the James Bond and Jason Bourne movies you guys gave
me some incredible options, but there was one that really stood out to me. It
is actually the first rated R movie I ever watched with my dad and is still one
of my favorite thrillers to this day. That is Sydney Pollack's Three Days of The Condor
starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway, and if you haven't seen it before it is
currently on Netflix and I suggest watching it ASAP.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY JUNE 5 2015: THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
(1975) AND OUR FASCINATION WITH ESPIONAGE
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Mystery, Thriller
When put on the topic of spy and espionage movies my mind
tends to always go right to Three Days of the Condor, and for good reason. It
doesn't focus on the gadgetry and glamour of the 'spy' life like so many
popular pictures do but instead focuses on the secrets and lies. Condor is a
film born out of a generation of paranoia during the Cold War. In the middle of
the 1970's the country was quite divided and plenty of the citizens didn't
trust our government. Sound familiar? Yeah, this movie feels just as appropriate
today as the day it was released. With the NSA, CIA, FBI, Homeland security and
countless other government agencies monitoring our every move it seems most
people are adapting the "Don't Trust Anyone" way of life. Keep this
in mind as you read the rest of this post or watch the film. Ask yourself, in
forty years how much have we really changed?
Starring Robert Redford in his prime, Three Days of the
Condor centers on a book worm CIA employee who stumbles onto the wrong
information, finding himself wanted by all the wrong people. His characters job
with the CIA entails him to read all day long, that's it. He does this to
analyze every piece of work ever written and look for devices and ideas that
either they can use or that the enemy might be using against them. After he
uncovers a secret organization operating through an old work of fiction he
finds himself in a bind when he returns from lunch to find all of his coworkers
shot and killed assassination style. He must now run from anyone he knows until
he can find some he trusts, and maybe a few answers as well. The film costars
Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde) as the love interest and Max Von Sydow (The
Exorcist) as the mysterious villain.
Watching this the other day for the first time in years I
was blown away by how realistic it is. I honestly felt like I was watching some
1970's take on the Edward Snowden ordeal from just a few years ago. A regular
old desk employee they never thought would be of any harm ends up with their
biggest secrets, outsmarting them every step of the way. This makes the movie
into a powerhouse thriller that will keep you gripping the edge of your seat.
Director Sydney Pollack channels his innermost Hitchcock with Redford, Dunaway
and Sydow delivering some of their best acting work.
This movie is a testament to the spy genre and what it can
really be. It doesn't have to always be about the gadgets and the girls, in the
real world it’s about the thrill. We watch a guy that could really be any of us
put into a larger than life situation and prosper. The government isn't running
the show here, the authority is in the common man and they show how much that
terrifies them. Redford's character is the exact opposite from the average
movie spy. Instead of being stunningly handsome, a master of his craft and
world class spy he's a goofy, never to be taken seriously, book worm. This
might be my favorite aspect of the film, our main character isn't a world class
expert killing machine he’s just a guy who reads books all day and picked up
some good ideas. When you boil it down it's really just the common people’s
fight against the governing power and instead of telling us that we can never
win there is a shred of optimism and hope.
This leads into the bigger question here, why are we as a
society so fascinated by the "Spy" genre? I believe there to be a few
answers to this. The simple one; they are flat out cool. Movies like James Bond
and the new Kinsman show us the fun of being a spy. All the awesome gadgets and
weapons we all wish we had, as well as the sex appeal and stature. Looking at
these guys how could you not want a life of espionage and lies? Then there are
the more rooted reasons that come from decades of lies and broken trusts
between the citizens and their government. When this came out forty years ago
it was the middle of the Cold War and nobody trusted anyone, you seemed to
either be a communist or a true American, no middle ground. Fast forward to
today, 2015 and things haven't changed that much has they? After the huge
Snowden NSA leak we found out our own government had been collection all of our
private data for no real reason. So watching movies about the men and women who
push the agendas of these governments or the ones who fight against them has
personal relevance to each of us.
I did read the other day that the part of the Patriot Act that
allows the governments to data mine all of our personal information has not
been renewed. So who knows, maybe we are starting on a path that will lead us
away from all the secrets and lies. In the meantime however paranoia is as high
as ever and its no surprise to see Paul Fieg and Melissa McCarthy taking their
shot at the genre. Comedy is the perfect medium right now for this as we saw
with the Kingsman and I'm excited to see what they bring to the table. If you
haven't seen Three Days of the Condor I highly recommend doing so soon, it is
currently available on Netflix streaming and is a film that should be known by
more of today's youth. It's a high class thriller we don't see the likes of too
often anymore.
As always here are the honorable mentions. You guys gave me
a whole assortment of great spy movies and I would feel terrible if I didn't
mention them. Also included are a few personal favorites as well:
- Spies Like Us (1985)
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
- Get Smart (2008)
- North By Northwest (1959)
- The Saint (1997)
- Sneakers (1992)
- Clear and Present Danger (1994)
- Spy Game (2001)
I know there are plenty more but I cant get everything on this list, Let me know any you love that I missed! As always, thanks for reading and you can find me on twitter @ZachWWMovies. Smell ya later!!
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