The Secret Agent (1996)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Christopher Hampton

Writers:

Joseph Conrad (novel)
Christopher Hampton (written by)

Release Date:

8 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

London of the late 19th century is a haven for political exiles of all sorts - refugees, partisans, anarchists...

Plot Keywords:

London | 19th Century | Bomb | Young Wife | Anarchist

Cast

Bob Hoskins	...	Verloc
Patricia Arquette	...	Winnie
Gérard Depardieu	...	Ossipon
Jim Broadbent	...	Chief Inspector Heat
Robin Williams	...	The Professor (as George Spelvin)
Christian Bale	...	Stevie
Roger Hammond	...	Mr. Michaelis
Eddie Izzard	...	Vladimir
Ralph Nossek	...	Yundt
Neville Phillips	...	Ticket clerk
Elizabeth Spriggs	...	Winnie's mother
Peter Vaughan	...	The Driver
Julian Wadham	...	The Assistant Commissioner

Also Known As:

Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent

MPAA:

Rated R for some moments of violence.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:16 | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | UK:12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Bob Hoskins was originally set to direct as well.

Quotes:

The Professor: Pull yourself together. Remorse is for the weak and weakness is the source of all evil on this Earth. There's a time coming - and it's gonna be sooner rather than later - when this will be understood by governments and individuals: that there can be no progress and no solutions until you make a rational decision to exterminate the weak.

Movie Connections:

Version of Sabotage (1936)

the more you understand the source material, the more you'll enjoy it...

While I do have reservations regarding some performances, I still regard this film as being very good. After reading all the other comments posted here, I was left with the feeling that perhaps few or no-one realizes this film (and the book it was based upon) was in fact based upon a real event.

A French anarchist botched a bombing of the Greenwich Observatory in 1894. In fact, it might have been an accidental detonation and the Observatory may not have even been the target. While the event depicted in the film was far more dramatic and gruesome than the real event (the bomber actually survived for about 30 minutes, missing a hand and a good portion of his abdomen) the story is somewhat atypical of the anarchist movement, although the target itself is a perplexing one, and remains a mystery.

I did enjoy one particular moment in the film for it's explanation of why the observatory was the target- (roughly, it went like this) "this 'meridian time' being touted at the observatory is a curious mystery, and an attack on time itself would be a grand symbol"- how deliciously Surrealistic and DaDa-ist! I got a chuckle out of that.

So, the story in the film, the same story many regard as being bad, was in fact based on a real event, so it is difficult to think of the story as bad, i felt it was a very good re-imagining of the actual event. Understanding the social-political atmosphere of the times might help those who merely find the film lousy. I guess this is true for any film though, is it not?