Triple Agent (2004)

	James V.

8 out of  8  people found this review helpful

If you're an Eric Rohmer fan, you'll want to see TRIPLE AGENT--no matter what. This is his "take" on a nearly 70-year-old event in French history about which few non-Frenchmen (and, I wager, many current French citizens) will know nothing. The film is as talky as any of Rohmer's movies, but what talk it is! Much of the best of it has to do with politics, Communism (as practiced so differently by Stalin & the French), the Spanish Civil War and the relationship between a husband & wife--the former of whom knows far more than is good for either of them. The performances are wonderful, the period look is striking and beautiful, and the interspersed newsreel footage, though black-&-white & quite grainy, makes an interesting comparison to the sharp color photography, while providing good historical context. (The film is shown in the old-fashioned, non-wide-screen format, as is the director's wish.) This one's a "don’t miss" for film lovers with a bent for history, France, Russia or Rohmer.

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	Alex Z.

2 out of  2  people found this review helpful

A good movie overall if somewhat slow. I was not impressed by Serge Renko's acting, but the cinematography is great. I do recommend seeing this movie.

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	Michael Ashley F.

2 out of  2  people found this review helpful

The more favorable review listed gives an accurate view of the movie and its particulars. I'd add the same but state that much of what made the film unique (and recommended by the other viewer) made it insufferable. Specifically, the dialogue. Not that I'm against dialogue in general, but why a movie was chosen as the medium to tell this true spy story evades me. This isn't an action movie; its a bit suspensful and a bit boring. Not warmly recommended for movie night. If one is moved to rent it, they might wonder, as this viewer did, whether the somewhat boring movie poster foretells the pokie pace and nearly one-set production of this flick. Good luck with it.

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