The Human Factor (1979)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Graham Greene (novel)
Tom Stoppard (screenplay)

Release Date:

1979 (UK)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

When Arthur Davis, a junior bachelor in the British secret service's African section, is seen taking...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Richard Attenborough	...	Col. John Daintry
Joop Doderer	...	Cornelius Muller
John Gielgud	...	Brig. Tomlinson
Derek Jacobi	...	Arthur Davis
Robert Morley	...	Dr. Percival
Ann Todd	...	Castle's Mother
Richard Vernon	...	Sir John Hargreaves
Nicol Williamson	...	Maurice Castle
Iman	...	Sarah
Keith Marsh	...	Porter
Anthony Woodruff	...	Dr. Barker
Gary Forbes	...	Sam
Angela Thorne	...	Lady Mary Hargreaves
Tony Haygarth	...	Buffy
Paul Curran	...	Halliday

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 | France:-12 | France:U (re-release: 2000) | USA:R | UK:AA (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Kenya

Company:

Sigma Production

Trivia:

According to the cinematographer, at one point the production ran out of money. Director Otto Preminger had to fly home to Hollywood to sell some of his art collection to fund the rest of the production.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the South African scenes (filmed in Kenya), the cars have Kenyan registration plates.

Quotes:

Maurice Castle: Davis calls all children "little bastards".

easy to underestimate

This is an odd film. 'Low-key' is certainly an apt description, and though I don't agree, I can see why some have dismissed it as flat, tedious, etc.

It has stayed in my mind after each viewing - I've seen it twice now on television - more than many other more critically praised films. There's something about the deliberate underplaying, the bland, familiar suburbia of the leading character's house, the politeness, the dog.... The film shows us a non-dramatic world in which dramatic events are being played out in secret, under cover of banal normality. It recalls the hurried departures of Kim Philby and friends from their own domestic lives. It's unsettling: what else might be happening in our own quiet streets?

Personally, I think it's rather wonderful. Clearly it's an ancestor of the brilliant TV adaptations of Le Carre; indeed, it feels more like Le Carre than Greene, which may be why Greene reportedly didn't like it. But it needs to be viewed for what it is: an essay in tension, told in a deliberately chosen style. If you only like action films, it's not for you.