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

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the DVD extras, the character played by Arsène Mosca was an homage to Peter Lorre; Mosca bears a passing resemblance to Lorre.

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Goofs

In Plantieux's office, Hubert finishes his glass of bourbon, downing the last of it in one gulp. Yet a moment later, without the glass having been refilled, he again finishes his glass of bourbon in the same manner.

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Quotes

[OSS 117 has tied the princess to her bed]
La princesse Al Tarouk: Before you go, you filthy spy, make love to me.
Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117: I don't think so.
La princesse Al Tarouk: Why not.
Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117: Don't feel like it. It was the cow joke.

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Connections

References North by Northwest (1959)

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Soundtracks

Bambino
(Guaglione)
Music by Giuseppe Fanciulli
Italian lyrics by Nicola Salerno
French lyrics by Jacques Larue
Performed by Jean Dujardin

User Reviews

heeeeey but...but it' really funny!

Seems like M.Hazanavicius is back!The man behind "la classe américaine" comes back with a really fun and clever sequel to those old-fashioned OSS-117...Whereas directors tend to "over-actualize" sequels of old classics (remember the avengers,urk), Hazanavicius chose to work on a really cheap hero, OSS-117, a kind of low-budget french 007, and decides to do it in a old-school way...The photography, the body attitudes, the fights choreography and the FX, everything is like an homage to the way films were made back in the 50s.And it works, as the tone and jokes of the movie are really good! Jean Dujardin embodies perfectly this stupid-arrogant-macho-selfish french spy, lost in a country he understands only in terms of folklore and inferiority.Yes, that's it, just the way the occident uses to consider its colonies back then (and, oh no, I won't say it has anything to do with what happens nowadays in the very same area...ah ah)...He just looks like an unfrozen Lino Ventura, with something like 40 pounds less, which is perfect for the role.The other members of the cast fit perfectly as well, with all you can dream of Russian spies, Egyptian independantists and former Nazis.And of course, the women, as there has to be "femmes fatales" in any good spy-movies... The plot is good (maybe not brilliant but really good enough...), taking place between actual historical facts, and remembering us in a funny way how France (and the others) treated its colonies back in those days. It all starts in 1955 with a British spy disappearing while tracking a Russian cargo full of weapons in Suez.Then France sends his best friend, agent OSS-117, to discover what happened to both the shipment and the agent... The fact is that this agent is really as dumb as can be, and he slips through the story without even understanding it, solving it in a very clouseau-esquire way. I have to say I had a bad feeling about the movie, as the publicity made around it was quite frightening, and as french humor tends to be quite populist and flat (forget about les bronzés 3 or camping...) but I was really surprised, and in the good way! I highly recommend it, whether you want a good parody of Bond-esquire movies (much more fun than in D.E.B.S. for example, but less skirts) or you're a fan of that genuine and candid way of filming they had back in the 5Os. Yes, that's it clever and (really!) funny, you've got the point once again Mr Hazanavicius!

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