Secret Agents (2004)

Moles threaten to foil a team of secret agents' plan.

Director:

Frédéric Schoendoerffer

Writers:

Yann Brion, Jean Cosmos

Stars:

Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci, André Dussollier

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent Cassel	...	Brisseau
Monica Bellucci	...	Barbara / Lisa
André Dussollier	...	Colonel Grasset
Charles Berling	...	Eugène
Bruno Todeschini	...	Homme maigre en civil
Sergio Peris-Mencheta	...	Raymond
Ludovic Schoendoerffer	...	Loïc
Eric Savin	...	Tony
Serge Avedikian	...	Igor Lipovsky
Gabrielle Lazure	...	Véronique Lipovsky
Najwa Nimri	...	Maria Menendez
Simón Andreu	...	Maître Deligny
Clément Thomas	...	Homme de main 1
Rosanna Walls	...	L'amie de Maria Menendez
Jay Benedict	...	L'Américain

Storyline

From his offices in Switzerland, Russian Igor Lipovsky is engaged in a vast and profitable gunrunning operation with Africa. The French government wants to hinder the activities of the arms dealer and sends a team to sink one of his ships heading for Angola with a load of illegal weaponry. Lisa, Brisseau, Loïc, Tony and Raymond are professionals: they carefully set up their cover, plan all their moves meticulously, and carry out orders without asking questions. Perhaps they should. The code-name of the mission is "Janus;" and just like with the ancient deity, there are two opposite faces for every aspect of the operation: the objective of the French government, the role of each team member, the presumed friend and the assumed foe.

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Plot Keywords:

frame up | casablanca morocco | tarifa spain | computer chip | reference to arms trade | 

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Genres:

Crime | Action | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The first part of the movie takes inspiration of the Rainbow Warrior case that has been slightly adapted. Events are transposed in Casablanca and the sabotaged boat carries weapons instead of environmental militants.

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Goofs

Colonel Grasset mentions that Lipovsky was born in "Riga, the capital of Estonia". In reality, Riga is the capital of Latvia, Eastonia's real capital is Tallinn.

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Connections

Featured in En bonne intelligence (2010)

User Reviews

A spy story with a realistic point of view : take that, James Bond !

Frederic Schoendorffer directed 4 years ago a great serial killer movie with a realistic point of view, "Scenes de crimes". And now he does it all over again with "Agents secrets", a sharp, always surprising look at the world of spies. Like, a James Bond movie directed by Ken Loach (well, sort of). Of course, when you decide to take a movie genre and break all its rules one by one, it helps to have two major movie stars by your side. Our American friends may not realize how big Vincent Cassell and Monica Bellucci are in France. They're, like, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, only more rebellious and real and glamorous and daring and hip. When you look at their respective filmographies, you know for sure that "Agents secrets" won't be a "Troy" or a "Along Came Polly" (though I do respect and love Brad and Jennifer, their career moves are sometimes, well, surprising). Now, Vincent and Monica are a real life couple and they do not play a couple in "Agents secrets", but two spies who pretend to be a couple on a mission that will go awfully wrong. Don't expect too many visual effects here : the suspense is intensely psychological and the cast does deliver, even though the screenplay sometimes doesn't (to be honest, the story is not always clear). When I saw the movie, most people in the audience were very angry by its ending. Without giving it away, I can tell you it is daring : the director wanted to make a movie about the extraordinary life of ordinary people who have no choice, once they've chosen such a lifestyle, but to live this way till they die. Their whole life is a mission, and it has no end.

Details

Official Sites:

TFM [France]

Country:

France Italy Spain

Language:

French English German Spanish

Release Date:

31 March 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

Secret Agents

Filming Locations:

Casablanca, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

EUR14,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,166,893

Company Credits

Production Co:

La Chauve Souris, Carcharodon, TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1