The Secret Agent (1996)

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:

Young Wife | Bomb | 19th Century | Anarchist | 1880s

Cast

Bob Hoskins	...	Verloc
Patricia Arquette	...	Winnie
Gérard Depardieu	...	Ossipon
Jim Broadbent	...	Chief Inspector Heat
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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robin Williams	...	Assassin (uncredited)

Directed by
Christopher Hampton

Writing credits
Joseph Conrad		(novel)
Christopher Hampton		(written by)

Produced by
Joyce Herlihy	....	co-producer
Norma Heyman	....	producer
Bob Hoskins	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass

Cinematography by
Denis Lenoir

Film Editing by
George Akers

Casting by
Janey Fothergill

Production Design by
Caroline Amies

Art Direction by
Frank Walsh

Costume Design by
Anushia Nieradzik

Makeup Department
Jenny Shircore	....	chief hair stylist
Jenny Shircore	....	chief makeup artist
Norma Webb	....	hair stylist
Norma Webb	....	makeup artist
Christine Whitney	....	hair stylist
Christine Whitney	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Stephen Barker	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Booker	....	third assistant director
Peter Heslop	....	second assistant director
Guy Travers	....	assistant director

Art Department
Carl Apsey	....	carpenter
Lee Apsey	....	supervising carpenter
Alan Bailey	....	property master
Dennis Bovington	....	construction manager
Bob Cann	....	carpenter (as Robert Cann)
Anthony Challenor	....	carpenter
Charles Cottrell	....	construction stand-by
John D'Arcy	....	carpenter
George Dean	....	painter
Billy Edwards	....	stand-by props
Chris Evans	....	decorative artist
Danny Evans	....	dressing props
Eddie Farrell	....	carpenter
Dave Fisher	....	stand-by props
Michael Fisher	....	carpenter
Kevin Fowler	....	chargehand stagehand
Claire Grainger	....	design assistant
Colin Gray	....	dressing props
Fred Gray	....	scenic artist
John Greaves	....	storyboard artist
Peter Grove	....	carpenter
Gary Hedges	....	carpenter
Michael Hedges	....	carpenter
Steve Hedinger	....	signwriter
Ron Higgins	....	property master
Rebecca Holmes	....	art department assistant
Roger Hulme	....	production buyer
Len Huntington	....	carpenter
James Kibble	....	assistant art director
Richard Kinsella	....	carpenter
Paul Kirby	....	draughtsman
Bert Long	....	carpenter
Robert Mason	....	painter
Kevin McCarthy	....	painter
Joe Monks	....	painter
Brian Morris	....	painter
Mick Murphy	....	plasterer
Eric Nash	....	plasterer
Ian Norgate	....	chargehand rigger
Paul Nott-Macaire	....	construction stand-by
Ken Powell	....	plasterer
Julie Shepherd	....	draughtsman
Lenny Smith	....	props runaround
Richard Stanley	....	dressing props
Bill Thompson	....	plasterer
Michael Troake	....	draughtsman
Paul Whitelock	....	painter
Peter Wilkinson	....	painter
Clive Wilson	....	dressing props
Robert Wishart	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Jason Adams	....	foley editor
Graham Daniel	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sarah Ellis	....	assistant adr editor
Julius Gladwell	....	assistant foley editor
Jennifer Govey	....	first assistant dubbing editor
Peter Lindsay	....	sound
Dennis McTaggart	....	dubbing editor
Ray Merrin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mervyn Moore	....	boom operator
Jupiter Sen	....	adr editor

Special Effects by
David Harris	....	special effects supervisor
Jude Harris	....	special effects technician
Mark Howard II	....	special effects technician (as Mark Howard)
Darren May	....	special effects technician
Neil Toddy Todd	....	special effects

Stunts
Simon Crane	....	stunt double
Gary Powell	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Bill Beenham	....	electrical rigger
Ian Coffey	....	clapper loader
Mark Evans	....	electrician
Mike Frift	....	camera operator
Jill Furmanovsky	....	still photographer
Alan Grayley	....	electrician
John Higgins	....	gaffer
Pascal Lagriffoul	....	camera focus
Kenny Monger	....	best boy
Ron Nicholls	....	grip
Jan Pester	....	Steadicam operator
William Richards	....	electrical rigger
Peter Robertson	....	Steadicam operator
Martin Shepherd	....	focus puller: "b" camera
Malcolm Smith	....	grip
Paul Stewart	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Riley Clark	....	wardrobe assistant
Jenny Hawkins	....	wardrobe assistant
Ralph Wheeler-Holes	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Ralph Holes)

Editorial Department
Edward Akers	....	editor trainee
David Barrett	....	first assistant editor
Ashling Fox	....	post-production coordinator
Jon Harris	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Rory Johnston	....	music coordinator: Euphorbia Productions
Jim Keller	....	music supervisor
Kurt Munkacsi	....	music producer
Harry Rabinowitz	....	conductor
Michael Riesman	....	musical director
Mike Ross-Trevor	....	music recording engineer (as Mike Ross)
Pete Smith	....	music coordinator: Isis Music

Transportation Department
David Rosenbaum	....	unit driver (uncredited)

Other crew
David Boardman	....	location manager
Yvonne Cattisan	....	stills assistant
Warren Cowan	....	unit publicist
Penny Eyles	....	script supervisor
Lorraine Fennell	....	production coordinator
Brian Gibbs	....	financial controller
Michael Hendrickson	....	production executive: Fox
Sirish Malde	....	auditor: Malde & Co.
Sue Matthews	....	assistant: Norma Heyman
Anya Noakes	....	unit publicist
Sammy Pasha	....	assistant: Bob Hoskins
Colin Plenty	....	location manager
Daniel Shepherd	....	production runner
Rebecca Erwin Spencer	....	assistant: Mr. Williams
Ene Watts	....	script supervisor
Julia Wilson Dickson	....	voice coach (as Julia Wilson-Dickson)

Thanks
Tim Pigott-Smith	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
• Capitol Films
• World Film Music Limited

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1996) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (1996) (USA) (theatrical)
• Telegroup (1997) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Nordisk Film Home Entertainment (1997) (Finland) (VHS)
• Filmes Lusomundo (1997) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Fox Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2007) (Greece) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2008) (Greece) (TV)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Egmont Film (1997) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Laurus Entertainment (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS) (rental)
• Spentzos Film Home Video (1996) (Greece) (VHS)
• Video Film Express (1999) (Netherlands) (VHS) (retail)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2001) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Angels & Bermans  costumes
• Cosprop  costumes
• English Chamber Orchestra  music performed by
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Panavision Grips  grip equipment
• Panavision UK  camera and lenses
• Peerless Camera Company  motion control
• Research Arts  main titles
• Sylvia Wheeler Film Services  negative cutting
• Whitfield Street Studios  music recorded at

Also Known As:

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:

[first title card]
Title Card:In the 1880's -unlike today- London was a haven for political refugees of all nationalities. They were kept under constant surveillance by their embassies as well as by Scotland Yard. This was fertile soil for every kind of conspiracy and betrayal.

Movie Connections:

Version of Sabotage (1936)

Boring secret agents

Whoever cares about international terrorism? It's just a boring subject, let's face it. Any objections? Well, I can understand if there are some. This film, however, might unexpectedly make you accept the truth of the above provocative statements. At least until the next time you zap to a TV news channel that is.

It's hard not to see awesome potential in doing an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 'The Secret Agent'. And it's hard to believe such a boring and inconsequential mess could be created following up on that very idea. Incredible, just think of the following issues explored in the movie: a web of anarchist militants finding political refuge in 1880s London, an agent provocateur run by the Russian embassy, a would-be suicide bomber, human drama complicating plots and counter-plots and so on. If I managed to excite you a little by mentioning these themes, so sorry, the film will still be boring.

To say something positive, at least it's not altogether unwatchable and, totally unexpectedly for me, the scenes between two actors from whom I would have normally anticipated the least were actually some of the best moments of the film, the scenes between Robin Williams and Gérard Depardieu, both playing anarchists with a rather mysterious (anarchic?) mindset. Oh, and it's quite likely I'll read the book after all, for what I have seen at least was enough to convince me that it might be a good idea.