The Little Drummer Girl (1984)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writers:

Loring Mandel (screenplay)
John le Carré (novel)

Release Date:

19 October 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

She will become their most deadly weapon. As long as they can make her fall in love.

Plot:

An American Actress with a penchant for lying is forceably recruited by Mosad, the Israeli intelligence agency to trap a Palestinian bomber, by pretending to be the girlfriend of his dead brother.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Male Nudity | Torture | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Diane Keaton	...	Charlie
Yorgo Voyagis	...	Joseph
Klaus Kinski	...	Martin Kurtz
Sami Frey	...	Khalil
Michael Cristofer	...	Tayeh
Eli Danker	...	Litvak
Ben Levine	...	Dimitri
Jonathan Sagall	...	Teddy
Shlomit Hagoel	...	Rose
Juliano Mer	...	Julio
Sabi Dorr	...	Ben
Doron Nesher	...	David
Smadar Brener	...	Toby
Shoshi Marciano	...	Rachel
Philipp Moog	...	Aaron

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (f)

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Pan Arts

Trivia:

Cameo: [John le Carré]the policeman in the scene when Charlie goes to her London apartment.

Quotes:

Marty Kurtz: Shimmond, Germany is not the West Bank.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cybill: The Little Drummer Girls (#3.12)" (1996)

This is a twisty, winding road brimming with political intrigue.

This film is detailed and occasionally harsh, but told by a master storyteller. the director has modified the John LeCarre novel somewhat, but weaves a strong story. It's a little hard to follow if you don't know much about the world of Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but provides quite an education by its end.

It begins with the assassination (bombing) of an Israeli diplomat and family and then jumps to an American stage actress, Charlie (Diane Keaton), who's currently living in Britain. She is ideologically a supporter of the Palestinian cause. She has a problem with falling in love easily and sympathizing with her lover. You begin to see the wheels turning in Israeli intelligence as they research and try to react to this most recent terrorist bombing.

They skillfully recruit/seduce her by pretending to support the Palestinian movement. To be effective in their scheme, they need someone authentic. They try to get under her skin and into her personal psyche (why she is an actress, pain in her life). Klaus Kinski is superb as the head of the Israeli intelligence effort.

After feeling more confident, they put her work to infiltrate the Palestinian-backed terrorist camps to ultimately get to the almost impossible to find bomber Khalil. This involves serious physical/military training. She excels and is given more and more trusted tasks as the story progresses. The story takes many twists and is very detailed and realistic in it's portrayal of both sides. It gets a little heavy, but is fascinating to watch unfold even a second time.

I give it a solid recommendation.