John Le Carre's A Perfect Spy
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DVD details
Actor: Alan Howard, Jane Booker, Peter Egan, Rüdiger Weigang, Ray McAnallyBrand: Acorn
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 390 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Reviews of John Le Carre's A Perfect Spy
DVD Review: A Trip Down The Secret Path
Summary: 5 Stars
As a fan of author John le Carre I've slowly been working my way through both his books and the adaptations of them. I found this 1987 adaptation of le Carre's masterwork originaly at my local library before I eventually bought this DVD and sat down to watch it thinking I would know what to expect. I was surprised to discover that my expectations were exceeded in this miniseries, a fine cross between a spy thriller and a human drama.
Peter Egan gives a great performance as Magnus Pym, the perfect spy of the title. Carrying on in the long tradition of le Carre's strong main characters, Pym is also quite possibly the best. Egan plays Pym (who in fact contains many shades of author le Carre) as a man forced to spend his entire life lying and betraying sometimes out of circumstance and other times just to survive with the consequence of him becoming "a perfect spy". Egan plays Pym to perfection as a man always on the run, if not from others then from himself. Egan alone makes the six or so hours of this miniseries worth seeing from his performance alone.
Surronding Egan is a fantastic supporting cast. Ray McAnally gives one of his finest performances as Pym's con man father Rick who (as le Carre has said) is based strongly on the author's own father. McAnally plays a man who comes in and out of Pym's life and is one of the those responsible for Pym becoming "a perfect spy". In fact if it wasn't for McAnally's performance a year after this in A Very British Coup this would the finest performance of his sadly too short career.
The rest of the supporting is excellent as well. From Caroline John as Pym's mother to Alan Howard as his spy mentor to Rüdiger Weigang as the young Pym's friend turned controller to Jane Booker as Pym's wife the supporting cast is fantastic. Special mention should be made of the three young actors who played the younger Pym (Jonathan Haley, Nicholas Haley and Benedict Taylor) who establish the young man who would become the man played so well By Peter Egan.
The production values of the miniseries are strong as well. As the miniseries adaptations of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People proved these stories can only be told in miniseries format. The locations are excellent from the English locations to the those scattered across Eastern Europe and the USA as are the sets by Chris Edwards. The cinematography of Elmer Cossey adds an extra layer of realism to the world of the miniseries. Yet the highlight of the miniseries is really the script.
Screenwrtier Arthur Hopcraft tackled the job of adapting the six hundred or so page novel excellently. The novel was largely (at least in its early parts) autobiographical in that Pym's early life echoed much of John le Carre's life. The script for this miniseries is no exception as it traces the development of Magnus Pym from young boy to "a perfect spy". Never once does the miniseries deviate from its purpose of telling a fine human drama in the context of the world of espionage. If one ever wants proof that a spy thriller can be tense and fascinating without ever having one gun fight, fist fight, or James Bond style car chase this would be the proof. While the miniseries is six plus hours long it never wastes a moment and it all the better for it.
Though it might be overlong for some for those who don't have very short attention spans here is a must see. From the performances of Peter Egan and Ray McAnally to fine production values and a fine literary script A Perfect Spy is one of the finest miniseries who can expect to see. It is a fascinating trip down the history of the Cold War yet it is more then that. It is also a trip down what John le Carre has called "the secret path": the path of the spy the man who must lie and betray to survive. As much a human drama as a spy thriller A Perfect Spy isn't to be missed.
Description of John Le Carre's A Perfect Spy
What traits of nature and nurture go into the making of a master of deception? British agent Magnus Pym?s training begins in a chaotic childhood. His charismatic con man father trades secrets for love, bouncing in and out of jail and his son?s life. Schooled at Oxford and mentored by two masters of espionage, Magnus is poised for greatness?except that his mentors are on opposite sides of the battle.With characters drawn from his own life, le Carré weaves a gripping tale of international intrigue brilliantly adapted for the BBC by Arthur Hopcraft, who also adapted le Carré?s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for television. A Perfect Spy stars Peter Egan (Reilly: Ace of Spies) and Ray McAnally (A Very British Coup) with an exceptional supporting cast featuring Alan Howard, Peggy Ashcroft, and Sarah Badel.
A Perfect Spy is a captivating, straight-ahead adaptation of John Le Carré's novel about the development of a Cold War double agent, Magnus Pym, whose life since childhood has taught him the art and elements of deceit. Peter Egan (Bean: The Movie) plays the adult Pym, raised in part by his con-man father, Rick (Ray McAnally), and the latter's community of accomplices. Stranded in Vienna while working an angle for Rick that goes wrong, young Magnus (Benedict Taylor) makes a connection with a down-on-his-luck writer, Axel (Rudinger Weigang). That relationship will come back to haunt him when Axel--later a Communist spy--recruits Magnus to divide his loyalties between East and West.
Typical of a Le Carré drama, the role of nature versus nurture in the spy business is a complex and fascinating mystery. Magnus has always been a talented liar--it was part of his survival in childhood--and seems most comfortable infiltrating others' secrets and tempting danger. But he is slowly and effortlessly outsmarted by those who know how to maneuver a man into a corner before he realizes he has run out of options. The cast of this 1988 British television miniseries is the best thing about the production, especially McAnally (My Left Foot), who died the following year. Arthur Hopcraft's smooth adaptation of Le Carré's story keeps the sometimes complicated narrative accessible, --Tom Keogh
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