The Courier (Amazon Prime)

The Courier  (Amazon Prime)

October 16^th, 1962 was my 11^th birthday and the start of the Cuban Missile crisis. We were watching Walter Cronkite and on TV and there was a map of the United States with arrows pointing to cities targeted by nuclear missiles launched from Cuba.  New York City was in the bull’s eye. I remember saying to me mother I was too young to die. The Courier is the true backstory of the Cuban missile crisis. Benedict  Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne an unassuming Englishman who gets recruited by MI6 and the CIA.  Cumberbatch gives a riveting performance in this tense spy thriller. It has the feel of a John le Carre novel but it is true. Cumberbatch plays a middle class businessman with just the right accent and not too stiff posture. He is convinced by his handlers as a courier he would not be in much danger if something went wrong. Spy tradecraft in 1962 was elementary compared to today but the depictions  in the film authenticated the period. Using a Minox camera and a hollowed out can as a drop off to pass on material was the state of art at the time. The duplicity of espionage is one man’s hero is another man’s traitor.

The arch of Cumberbatch’s character goes from ordinary businessman to reluctant spy to a man of heroic conviction. Cumberbatch’s transition is masterful. Not to give too much away at one point he loses a tremendous amount of weight which  portrays his terrible situation. It is almost hard to watch.  

The supporting cast is excellent. Merab Ninidze plays Oleg Penkousky a Soviet military intelligence colonel. He plays the role of a conflicted Soviet hero who is patriotic but troubled by the recklessness of Nikita Khrushchev’s path to nuclear war. Ninidze is a native Georgian which fits perfectly with his role. Rachel Brosanhan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) plays Emily Donovan the CIA officer. Her role was more empathetic to the mission and concern for Wynne’s welfare. To match the period her hair was perfectly coiffed fortified with layers hairspray and she wore a  pillbox hat.

The casting director should receive an award for casting Keir Hills as Wynne’s young son. His resemblance to Cumberbatch is striking with blond hair and long mirthless face. The typical English schoolboy of the 60’s.

This October will be my 70^th birthday which I hope will be uneventful.

  

The Mauritanian (Amazon Prime)

 

The Mauritanian (Amazon Prime)

This film is a show case for the talents of Tahar Rahim who plays Mohammedou Ould Salahi. Salahi was detained at Guantanamo Bay for fourteen years with out charges and released. He subsequently wrote a book of his experience which is the basis of the film.

Essentially this is a four actor film: Tahar Rahim as Salahi, Jody Foster as Nancy Hollander, Benedict Cumberbatch as Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch and Shailene  Woodley as Teri Duncan. Rahim’s character displays a range of powerful emotions resulting from his captivity. Salahi is subjected to isolation, fear and terror. In these terrible circumstances there are scenes of claim and acceptance from the long confinement. He even manages to make friends with a fellow detainee which he never meets. He conveys the desperation of imprisonment and any little comfort is significant. The “Enhanced Interrogation” scenes  were horrendous and difficult to watch. I am sure they used a stunt double for some scenes but he did many himself. The emotional distress and mental break down were etched on his face. This is a demanding role.

Jody Foster is a multi-talented actor and director but her role as the lead defense lawyer Nancy Hollander was a bit one dimensional. She plays the hard as nails defense lawyer ready to fight. Most of  her screen time is in a secured room or on a plane limiting her performance. She does have good chemistry with Salahi after overcoming his initial distrust.

I think Benedict Cumberbatch is a brilliant actor but casting him as a southern prosecution lawyer with a pronounced drawl was amusing. Instead of a relaxed good old boy he came off like a stiff British colonel.  He played role well but someone like Mathew McConaughey would have been better suited.

Shailene  Woodley  character temporarily assists Nancy Hollander since she speaks French. When they first meet Salahi they were surprised he spoke English. When asked how he learned he said, “same as you, word by word’.

The film makes political statements but Rahim’s performance is reason enough to see the film.

The Imitation Game

Benedicit Cumberbatch brilliantly plays Alan Turing the English math genius and cryptanalyst who with a few men and a women changed the course of World War II. This is a great true story that modern day geeks can appreciate and Turing’s life makes fascinating drama. Turing was insufferable, but he was indispensable. He was humorless but inadvertently funny. He was not a people person. He was as good reading human emotions as Ray Charles was reading the morning paper.

Cumberbatch powerfully conveys Turing’s arrogance, loneliness, apprehension and fears. Turing was a man ahead of his time to the consternation naval intelligence and MI6 who could not grasp his genius. He was unorthodox and did not care for protocol or chain of command. Turing was not of their class but his intellect out ranked them. He was committed more to himself than King and country. Cumberbatch plays this emotional tightrope with drama. Burdened with impossible deadlines, fighting for material and personal, mostly without his superior’s support, these conflicts and resolution drive the movie.

Turing and his crew where trying to decipher the unbreakable Enigma code used by the Nazis. The codes changed every day and possible combinations were in the millions of millions. Turing took an unorthodox approach to break the code putting him at odds with his handlers. He broke away from conventional code deciphering instead using a machine he invented. Cumberbatch is very passionate in these scenes. His frustration at the narrow mindedness of his superiors is tangible.

Turing was gay and being gay in England then was a punishable offense. He kept his sexual preference secret, not out of shame but to avoid blackmail or prison. Turing deified society and willingly engaged in his homosexual affairs, but was deeply afraid of the consequences to himself and his work. This seesaw battle between who he wants to be and who he has to be torments him.

Keira Knightley is Joan Clarke the female code breaker.  Clarke is unequivocally confident, firmly resisting the push to the secretarial pool for her seat at the table with Turing. Her mathematical prowess impressed Turing. They liked each other; their relationship was more than plutonic and was complicated. Knightley did not overplay this role. She was very sincere for her affection to Turing.  Knightly and Cumberbatch had great chemistry.

Another character of note is Mark Strong who played Maj. Gen. Stewart Menzies, the MI6 liaison (one of the characters said, “there is no MI6 only MI5. To which Strong relies, “then we are keeping our secrets well”). He is so British he is almost brittle. He is Turing’s nemeses and champion, depending what he wants. He represents the government and the ends to which it will go to win.

Flash backs are like a pinch of salt, less is best. They are done right here. They augment the narrative at the right time and explain the present using the past. Here the flash backs concern Turing’s public school days where he was subjected to cruelties and where a great loving friendship blossomed.

Turing was truly a tragic figure, a label surely he would reject. The West owes him a great debt of gratitude for his contributions. His inventions were called Turing Machines. Now we call them computers.