I first saw this film when it was originally released. I was only eleven at the time and was captivated by Caine (too cool by half) and the film as a whole, while not quite grasping the meaning of it all. But I never forgot the film. Being Canadian, albeit with a Scottish mum, such things as the Profumo affair, REAL spies and double agents were just not in my ken. Bond in From Russia with Love and Dr. No(seen at about the same time) were obviously more to the liking of a pre-teen.
But we are talking apples and oranges here. O.K. same producer, but different objectives cinematographically. Bond films rapidly became ludicrous; popcorn fare. Having just seen Ipcress File again on late night TV after so many years, being keen on films and an actor (read: "unemployed"), I was utterly taken by the acting and especially the camera work - brilliant. Harry's vision seems to improve as the film progresses:)
Too slow paced? Not enough action? Thus mentioned some of the above crits. Never felt that once. Who needs ultra-violence and endless car chase scenes. THEY put me to sleep. Too slow paced? That's the nature of the spy biz. Too slow paced? Look at the CSI series (which are excellent). Sneeze once or miss two minutes of of the storyline (especially at the start) and you're lost. Mind you they only have 50-odd minutes to squeeze everything in.
George Smiley was never in a rush, and I would like to think that Harry and George, being relatively of a similar age, would get on like a house on fire. Might even make a good team! Cheers.
Hugh Corston, Quebec City (where we get virtually no good films in the original English language version - thank God for DVDs)
But we are talking apples and oranges here. O.K. same producer, but different objectives cinematographically. Bond films rapidly became ludicrous; popcorn fare. Having just seen Ipcress File again on late night TV after so many years, being keen on films and an actor (read: "unemployed"), I was utterly taken by the acting and especially the camera work - brilliant. Harry's vision seems to improve as the film progresses:)
Too slow paced? Not enough action? Thus mentioned some of the above crits. Never felt that once. Who needs ultra-violence and endless car chase scenes. THEY put me to sleep. Too slow paced? That's the nature of the spy biz. Too slow paced? Look at the CSI series (which are excellent). Sneeze once or miss two minutes of of the storyline (especially at the start) and you're lost. Mind you they only have 50-odd minutes to squeeze everything in.
George Smiley was never in a rush, and I would like to think that Harry and George, being relatively of a similar age, would get on like a house on fire. Might even make a good team! Cheers.
Hugh Corston, Quebec City (where we get virtually no good films in the original English language version - thank God for DVDs)