OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

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 & 7 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:

friend | spy | bound and gagged | arms tied overhead | lingerie slip | 

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Taglines:

The Prride of French Intelligence

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Music Box Films [United States] Official site [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French Arabic German

Release Date:

9 May 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

Filming Locations:

Devant la mairie, avenue Mohamed VI, El Djadida, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

EUR14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,418, 11 May 2008

Gross USA:

$303,543

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,041,621

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

According to the DVD extras, this movie was influenced by several films; Dr No; two or three Hitchcock films: The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest, Vertigo; as well as the original OSS 117 films directed by André Hunebelle in the 60s.

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Goofs

When OSS 117 and Larmina are talking about the arms trade on the pier at 9pm, OSS 117 wonders what time it is, looks at his watch and says it is 10 to 7 although his watch show 5 past 8.

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Quotes

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117: Good evening, Larmina. You get prettier by the hour. I can't wait till tomorrow!
Larmina El Akmar Betouche: Inch Allah! Shall I drive?
Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117: I can't refuse a dark-eyed brunette.
Larmina El Akmar Betouche: And blue-eyed blondes?
Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117: In any case, you're my kind of woman.
Larmina El Akmar Betouche: What if I were a midget with glasses?
Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117: I wouldn't let you drive! Preposterous.

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Connections

References To Catch a Thief (1955)

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Soundtracks

Un clair de Lune à Maubeuge
Written by Pierre Perrin (as P. Perrin), Claude Blondy (as C.L. Blondy)
© Les Editions Musicales Caravelle
Avec l'aimable autorisation de Universal Music Projets Spéciaux

User Reviews

A very fresh exercise

Excellent exercise on multiple plans:

• showing the not yet ended colonialism spirit in France

• more generally the boring mindset of superiority from all western people

• a renewal of the spy and thriller movies: OSS 117 is uncultured and stupid!

The good idea is that, in spite of all these messages, it is a funny film, plenty of jokes and gags, very light and sparkling.

Special mention to Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.

Definitely worth seeing. Wonder how it will be appreciated in US?

Seems to be a success in France, so probably a next version will come.