The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film)
"The Spy Who Came In from the Cold" is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Martin Ritt and based on John Le Carré's 1963 novel of the same name. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the film presents a stark and realistic portrayal of espionage, diverging sharply from the glamorous depictions found in more typical spy narratives. The story follows Leamas, played by Richard Burton, a disillusioned British spy who becomes embroiled in a dangerous web of deception and betrayal after being recalled from his station in Berlin.
The film's cinematography, characterized by its bleak black-and-white aesthetic, complements the grim atmosphere and themes of hopelessness faced by its characters. Leamas's mission revolves around manipulating an East German agent, but the unfolding events lead to a tragic confrontation that questions the morality of espionage and the very nature of loyalty and sacrifice. The film was both a critical and financial success, earning significant acclaim for its performances and narrative depth, while receiving nominations for prestigious awards, including Academy Awards and BAFTA awards. It stands out for its unsentimental treatment of its subject matter, offering a compelling commentary on the human costs of the Cold War.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film)
- Release Date: 1965
- Director(s): Martin Ritt
- Writer(s): Paul Dehn; Guy Trosper
- Principal Actors and Roles: Claire Bloom (Nan Perry); Richard Burton (Alec Leamas); Oskar Werner (Fiedler); Robert Hardy (Dick Carlton); Michael Hordern (Ashe)
- Book / Story Film Based On: The Spy Who Came in From The Cold by John Le Carre
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold is a 1965 espionage movie out of Britain. Based on a 1963 John Le Carré novel of the same name, its background environment is the Cold War. Given the source and its theme, it is hardly surprising that its perspective is jaded, realistic, and far from flattering when it comes to the spy services of both the western democracies and their eastern-European adversaries.
The book is considered one of Le Carré’s best, and the movie is very faithful to the book. It is set in East Berlin during the Cold War, so the general atmosphere is bleak, almost to the point of despair. The characters have lost their sense of purpose in what they are doing, and the entire movie has an air of believability. This quality set it in powerful counterpoint to the glitzy, utterly implausible (but highly entertaining) James Bond thrillers and their imitators.
The ecosystem of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold is as dirty and drab as the movie’s flat black-and-white cinematography and dingy sets. Richard Burton gives one of his finest performances in the movie, but even the actor was affected by the unrelenting gloom of the character, settings, and themes of the movie. The disillusioned, disheartened spies occupy a seedy, grim world that seems both hopeless and pointless. The cinematography is so starkly realistic that it feels almost like a documentary rather than a feature film. It’s not a movie for those who want explosions, dramatic chases, and virtue to triumph in the end.
Plot
An administrator named Leamas in Britain’s West Berlin spy office is seemingly held responsible for the death of one of his agents. He is recalled to London and demoted. His downfall has been carefully staged by the agency head, who is called Control. The goal of turning Leamas into an apparent outcast is to have him plant disinformation that will undermine an East German agent and protect a British mole in the East German intelligence service.
Leamas seems to have become a depressed alcoholic who is running out of money. This makes him an easy mark for East German agents. He accepts money in return for information about British secrets. Leamas first meets East German interviewers in the Netherlands, then in East Germany. Leamas has incomplete information that suggests that an East German spy named Mundt is a British agent. Mundt comes to the villa where the interviews are taking place and has Leamas and his handler, Fiedler, arrested. Then Mundt too is arrested.
In the ensuing trial, Leamas is the star witness against Mundt, but his story begins to come apart. Mundt’s attorney reveals a number of inconsistencies in Leamas’ transition into an agent for the East Germans. Then Leamas’ girlfriend, Nan Perry, an idealistic English communist, unintentionally blows his cover by revealing that she gets money from the British intelligence services. His credibility destroyed, Leamas admits he is a British agent. Fiedler is arrested as a complicitor.
Leamas believes he will soon be executed, but Mundt helps him escape. Whereas Leamas thought he had failed in his mission, the truth is he succeeded: Although he had not been told the truth by his superiors, his target was Fiedler, while Mundt was the British agent to be protected.
Leamas has an angry confrontation with his girlfriend before they can escape from East Berlin in which the ambiguous morality of his work is excoriated by the girl for the "innocent" Fielder’s death. In response Leamas, with some bitterness, accuses her of being naïve.
As they are seemingly permitted to leave by crossing the Berlin Wall, the girlfriend is shot. Leamas hesitates on the top of the wall. Agents from both sides try to convince him to cross to the west, but he climbs down to her body. Then Leamas is also shot.
Control suggests that Leamas died with Perry in order to come in from the cold—to rejoin the warmth of human relationships and leave behind the isolated "cold" that is a spy’s daily life.
Significance
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold was a critical and financial success, earning some $7.6 million at the box office in 1965. The good reviews were as much for the excellent performances of the entire cast as for the story of betrayal, disinformation, idealism, and the universal human need for emotional connections with others.
It received two Academy Award nominations, for best actor and best art direction, but won neither. It did better at the British Academy, receiving nominations for six 1966 BAFTA awards and winning four: best British actor, best British film, best British cinematography, and best British art direction. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures also named it one of the Top 10 films of the year.
The movie also demonstrated that there was a solid audience for movies about the Cold War and espionage that did not glamorize spies and spying in any way. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold is utterly unsentimental, even when Leamas seems to sacrifice himself for love despite his own apparently cynical worldview.
What’s more, the movie also proved that a film could demand attention from its audience, because viewers have to listen carefully and pay attention in this movie, or they will get lost. And in the end, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold was a hit despite refusing to show anything but the corruption, sordid deceptions, and almost nihilistic cynicism of Cold War espionage.
Awards and nominations
Won
- Golden Globe (1965) Best Supporting Actor: Oskar Werner
Nominated
- Academy Award (1965) Best Actor: Richard Burton
- Academy Award (1965) Best Art Direction-Set Direction (Black-and-White)
Bibliography
Lewis, Jon. Essential Cinema: An Introduction to Film Analysis. Boston: Cengage, 2013. Print.
Mavis, Paul. The Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898 Through 1999. Jefferson: McFarland, 2001. Print.
Miller, Gabriel. Martin Ritt: Interviews. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2003. Print.
Miller, Gabriel. The Films of Martin Ritt: Fanfare for the Common Man. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2000. Print.
"The Spy Who Came in From the Cold." Time Out London. Time Out Digital, 2015. Web. 2 Sept. 2015. <http://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-spy-who-came-in-from-the-cold>.
Wark, Wesley K., ed. Spy Fiction, Spy Films and Real Intelligence. New York: Routledge, 1991. Print.