“All The Old Knives” (2022)
Stylish espionage drama with a surprising twist.
Stylish espionage drama with a surprising twist.
Based on the 2015 novel of the same name written by Olen Steinhauer and directed by renowned documentary film Janus Metz, this is the second cinematic film from the Danish director following Borg vs McEnroe 5 years ago and an espionage/whodunnit tale I didn’t think I’d enjoy but I rather liked, if not loved.
The premise is simple, the well told and winding tale not so much:
Eight years after a brutal and bloody hijacking of Turkish airlines “Flight 127” in Vienna, local United States of America CIA Station Chief “Vick Wallinger” (Laurence Fishburne) hands an assignment to his trusted case officer “Henry Pelham” (Chris Pine). There was a “mole” inside the Vienna CIA Station and the overwhelming evidence points squarely in the direction of Pelham’s ex colleague and ex lover “Celia Favreau” (Thandiwe Newton) and he has to confirm both the traitorous insider as well as clearing up the mess afterward as Wallinger states unequivocally “We need to close the books on 127 once and for all”.
Supported by a brilliant (as ever) performance from Jonathan Pryce as “Bill Compton”, a now retired member of a much larger group of case officers within the Station and all of whom cameo in the machinations of a busy spooks office in a foreign country, that’s really all you need to know. We’re dealing with spies and spooks and the foul depths of conniving espionage and on a need to know basis, so that’s all you need to know.
The film’s fractured timeline is seamlessly woven into the fabric of ostensibly three recurring scenes, the day and aftermath of the hijacking itself (to which we always seemingly return to as a touchstone or guide point), eight years later and a semi formal interrogation in a London pub and two weeks later still, a lavish and yet still obviously formal interrogation in an opulent Californian restaurant.
One chaos filled Spying Station trying desperately to control the violently out of control.
Two social encounters with an old colleague, an ex love, and a mole?
Jonathan Pryce is excellent in that gruff and disinterested look of disdain way of his! Laurence Fishburne stoic, commanding and deliberately underused and the arguable Marquee stars of Pine and Newton are intertwined and barely away from one another on screen and very deliberately so. All provide accomplished performances, especially so Chris Pine (again), but I’ll save the ultimate praise and kudos for the director, Janus Metz.
Despite being lost and a little bemused by piecing the puzzle together of who’s playing who, double crossing or acting as a double agent or insider, I rather enjoyed the film as a whole and particularly the three pronged settings of Vienna, London and California. The ultimate twist wasn’t as obvious as the case officers and spooks seemingly on every corner. This is signposted incredibly early on and whilst perhaps not intentionally, it certainly is as the film progresses, and that was my only main gripe for the film as a whole.
Aside from this, I adored the cinematography of Charlotte Christensen and especially so the showdown interrogations in a cramped pub with rain teeming down the windows and the sunshine filled or slivers of sunlight and the shadows cast within the opulent restaurant. This film is full of shadows and light, very deliberately so again and captured magnificently as Henry Pelham contemplates his assignment on a Californian beach. The swooping crane shots of the film’s sunshine filled opening over the credits is another mini marvel which won me over and instantly gave the impression of a James Bond film. With our hero arriving at the restaurant having traversed the gorgeous sunshine filled coastline of Californian in an open topped convertible, his request of a Vodka Martini continued the invocation of a certain gentleman British Spy with a licence to kill, but thankfully this was playfully batted away by the bartender. The mournful orchestral music soundtrack from Jon Ekstrand and Rebekka Karijord deserve stand alone plaudits too.
With oblique and distorted camera angles forever reinforcing we’re in a world full of tricks, double dealing and subterfuge together with a cast of Spies always looking for an exit or over their shoulder when their training or “Sixth Sense” kicks in, I rather enjoyed this stylish espionage drama and far more than I originally believed I would.
Bravo Mr Metz!
Thanks for reading. For over 80+ spoiler free film reviews, please see my archives. The three most recently published are linked below:
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