Year: 2006
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Country: France
Language: French
When one thinks of secret agents, they look no further than Ian Fleming's 007 James Bond Series. Fleming brought Bond to the page in 1953, and the first film hit theatres in 1967 with Casino Royale. Frenchman Jean Bruce's superspy OSS 117 came first however; his novels his markets in 1949 and the first OSS 117 film (N'est Past Mort) made cinemas in 1957. OSS 117: Nest of Spies is a satire of re-occuring themes of 50's-70's spy pictures.
It's 1955 and after a fellow agent and close friend disappears, secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin), 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.
Director Michel Hazanavicius brings credibility to the production as his impressive mise-en-scene creates an impressive 1950's atmosphere. Costumes, hairstyles, and makeup are vintage in an authentic "this is actually from the 50's" way. The editing, color saturation, and even the film score makes the audience feel like they are watching a film that is at least 40 years older than it actually is.
The comedy in OSS 117 is miles above the first Austin Powers film. The actors' delivery is better, the dialogue is better, the story is better and the slapstick is better. I love the insult by one of the side characters "You certainly are French". I'm surprised the French would be willing to joke about that stereotype about themselves, that the French are thought of as rude.
OSS 117: Nest of Spies arrived at a time when GOOD parody/satire films were pretty much dead in the water. Even 12 years later, the film still remains one of the better comedy films of the 21st Century (so far...). Both Director Havanavicius and star Dujardin would win Oscars in 2011 for another great collaboration; The Artist.
No comments:
Post a Comment