This classic thriller honestly didn't live up to my expectations. I confess that I was expecting something more interesting and a better story. What the movie offers us is good enough not to give my time as poorly spent, but it's far from the kind of movie I would recommend to anyone.
The script begins with an Australian policeman's journey to London, tasked with a thorny, but politically delicate, mission: to investigate an Australian High Commissioner, a highly regarded career diplomat who is assisting a major summit in the British capital. However, when he arrives, he realizes that something else is going on, that diplomat is in danger and there are people really committed to holding the negotiations.
The biggest problem with this film is, in fact, the fragile script and the way in which it cannot contextualize the action. Early on, it becomes evident that the investigation is a political maneuver, and that there is a conspiracy going on. But all the context is missing: despite the summit's relevance, the theme and why it is so important is never properly explained, and even that murder charge is addressed so subtly that it is unclear, and turns out to be irrelevant from some moment on. Predictability would become another of the film's problems, which becomes less and less interesting and more obvious as time goes on.
The cast is good and has some big names like Rod Taylor, who does a good job here, in the role of an Australian like himself. But it is Christopher Plummer who makes the film more appealing: he is impeccable in the role of diplomat. Elegant, correct, full of good intentions and genuinely well-meaning, he wins our sympathies, as do Lilli Palmer, who played his devoted wife, or Carmilla Sparv, a secretary who seems to have a crush on her boss (it's only a feeling, the character herself denied that). Sexy Daliah Lavi does a good job, but she's an obvious villain. Leo McKern and Clive Revill do a satisfying job on largely secondary characters.
Technically, it's a low-key movie. Cinematography isn't particularly remarkable, I thought the film exaggerates the contrast, has washed-out colors and a very dated look (but I handled it well). The car footage is an important part of the film, and it was very well done. The film has good sets and costumes, but I felt that it explores very little of the natural beauty of London, and it could have chosen the filming locations better. The action scenes are good, but are a little spoiled by predictability and the soundtrack seems a little dark for the movie.
The script begins with an Australian policeman's journey to London, tasked with a thorny, but politically delicate, mission: to investigate an Australian High Commissioner, a highly regarded career diplomat who is assisting a major summit in the British capital. However, when he arrives, he realizes that something else is going on, that diplomat is in danger and there are people really committed to holding the negotiations.
The biggest problem with this film is, in fact, the fragile script and the way in which it cannot contextualize the action. Early on, it becomes evident that the investigation is a political maneuver, and that there is a conspiracy going on. But all the context is missing: despite the summit's relevance, the theme and why it is so important is never properly explained, and even that murder charge is addressed so subtly that it is unclear, and turns out to be irrelevant from some moment on. Predictability would become another of the film's problems, which becomes less and less interesting and more obvious as time goes on.
The cast is good and has some big names like Rod Taylor, who does a good job here, in the role of an Australian like himself. But it is Christopher Plummer who makes the film more appealing: he is impeccable in the role of diplomat. Elegant, correct, full of good intentions and genuinely well-meaning, he wins our sympathies, as do Lilli Palmer, who played his devoted wife, or Carmilla Sparv, a secretary who seems to have a crush on her boss (it's only a feeling, the character herself denied that). Sexy Daliah Lavi does a good job, but she's an obvious villain. Leo McKern and Clive Revill do a satisfying job on largely secondary characters.
Technically, it's a low-key movie. Cinematography isn't particularly remarkable, I thought the film exaggerates the contrast, has washed-out colors and a very dated look (but I handled it well). The car footage is an important part of the film, and it was very well done. The film has good sets and costumes, but I felt that it explores very little of the natural beauty of London, and it could have chosen the filming locations better. The action scenes are good, but are a little spoiled by predictability and the soundtrack seems a little dark for the movie.