OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)
"OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions" (original title)

Secret agent OSS 117 foils Nazis, beds local beauties, and brings peace to the Middle East.

Director:

Michel Hazanavicius

Writers:

Jean-François Halin (scenario), Jean Bruce (novel),

Stars:

Jean Dujardin, François Damiens, Khalid Maadour

4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Dujardin	...	Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117
François Damiens	...	Raymond Pelletier
Khalid Maadour	...	Le suiveur
Youssef Hamid	...	L'imam
Arsène Mosca	...	Loktar
Constantin Alexandrov	...	Setine
Claude Brosset	...	Le patron
Laurent Bateau	...	Gardenborough
Saïd Amadis	...	Le ministre égyptien
Eric Prat	...	Plantieux
Abdellah Moundy	...	Slimane (as Abdallah Moundy)
Philippe Lefebvre	...	Jack Jefferson
Richard Sammel	...	Moeller
Aure Atika	...	La princesse Al Tarouk
Bérénice Bejo	...	Larmina El Akmar Betouche

Storyline

An homage to classic spy films. It's 1955 and after a fellow agent and close friend disappears, secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117, is ordered to take his place at the head of a poultry firm in Cairo. This is to be his cover while he is busy investigating, foiling Nazi holdouts, quelling a fundamentalist rebellion, and bedding local beauties.

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Plot Keywords:

agent | nazi | secret agent | spy | friend | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Details

Official Sites:

Music Box Films [us] Official site [fr]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

9 May 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

Filming Locations:

Casablanca, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

€14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$31,418 (USA) (9 May 2008)

Gross:

$302,752 (USA) (10 October 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, Mandarin Films, M6 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The German title of this film, "OSS 117 - Der Spion, der sich liebte", is a prank on the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. It literally means "OSS 117 - The Spy Who Loved Himself".

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Goofs

When OSS 117 learns to count in Arabic, Larmina coaches him: "Wahed, Jouj...". She should be counting in Egyptian Arabic, but instead she uses Moroccan Arabic. An Egyptian would not use (or understand) "Jouj" for two. The word is "Itnayn".

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Connections

Followed by OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Bambino"
Original lyrics by Nicolas Salerno (as Nisa)
Music by Giuseppe Fanciulli (as G. Fanciulli)
Adaptation française de Jacques Larue
Avec l'aimable autorisation de S.E.M.I.
Performed by Jean Dujardin (as Malou sur Mort de Jack)

User Reviews

Light and refreshing - a must see

This is probably one of the best French movies I had seen in a very long time! This "pastiche" or parody of spy movies is very well made and is going to make you laugh from the beginning to the end. Some references to today's world are very subtle. The whole Maroccan context of the movie is to be understood in light of today's French culture/environment. That said, all the jokes and - seemingly - shocking remarks that could have been understood as such because of this context, are permitted and accepted because this is a parody.

I was told by my sisters who had already seen this movie that I should go too and assured me that I was going to have a great time, and indeed I had! If you liked the old 007 movies with Sean Connery and also like movies like Airplane or Hot Shots, you will be delighted. I just hope this movie is released on DVD in the US... Wait and see.