OSS 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies
by Michel Hazanavicius
List Price:
Our Price: $20.89
You Save: $4.09 (16%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Aure Atika, Bérénice Bejo, Constantin Alexandrov, Jean Dujardin, Philippe LefebvreDirector: Michel Hazanavicius
Brand: MPI
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-30
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Music Box Films
DVD Reviews of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies
DVD Review: Chicken chucker, arms dealer, Brit killer..Voila!
Summary: 5 Stars
"I was woken by a guy screaming on a tower. I couldn't sleep. I had to shut him up."
(Shocked tone) "A muezzin? You `shut up' a muezzin?! He was calling for prayer!!"
(Bemusedly) "Yours is a strange religion. You'll grow tired of it...it won't last long."
No, that transcript is not excerpted from secret Oval Office tapes; it's an exchange between the cheerfully sexist, jingoistic, folkway-challenged and generally clueless French secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath (alias OSS 117) and his Egyptian liaison, the lovely Larmina El Akmar Betouche. The scene is from OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, a gallingly amusing Gallic spy romp from director Michel Hazanavicius.
The director and his screenwriter Jean-Francois Halin adapted the script based on characters from the original "OSS 117" novels by Jean Bruce, which concerned the misadventures of an Ian Fleming-esque French government agent. The books inspired a series of films, produced in France between 1956 and 1970.
After a brief b&w prologue depicting agent OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin) handily dispatching a Nazi adversary from a plane (sans parachute) in a wartime escapade, the film flash-forwards to the year 1955. Hubert (as we will refer to him going forward) is sent to Cairo to investigate the mysterious death of a fellow agent. He is assisted by the aforementioned Larmina (Bernice Bejo) and just like an undercover 007, he is given a business front. In this case, our intrepid agent poses as a chicken exporter; and yes, all of the inherent comic possibilities involving this most ubiquitous species of barnyard fowl are gleefully explored (and the credits assure us that none were harmed during filming).
As the intrigue thickens, Hubert encounters some sexy royalty in the person of La princesse Al Taouk (Aure Atika) as well as the usual Whitman's assortment of shady informers, sneaky assassins and dirty double dealers that populate exotic spy capers. In the interim, thanks to his deGaullist stance and blissful cultural ignorance of the Muslim world, Hubert manages to deeply offend nearly every local he comes in contact with. As one Egyptian associate muses to himself: "He is very stupid...or very smart."
Hazanavicius has concocted a tremendously well-crafted and entertaining spy spoof here that actually gets funnier upon repeat viewings. Unlike the Austin Powers films, which utilizes the spy spoof motif primarily as an excuse for Mike Meyers to string together an assortment of glorified SNL sketches and (over) indulge in certain scatological obsessions, this film stays manages to stay true and even respectful to the genre and era that it aspires to parody. The acting tics, production design, costuming, music, use of rear-screen projection, even the choreography of the action scenes are so pitch-perfect that if you were to screen the film side by side with one of the early Bond entries (e.g. From Russia With Love) you would swear the films were produced the very same year.
I also have to credit the director's secret weapon, which is leading man DuJardin. He has a marvelous way of underplaying his comedic chops that borders on genius. He portrays his well-tailored agent with the same blend of arrogance and elegance that defined Sean Connery's 007, but tempers it with an undercurrent of obliviously graceless social bumbling that matches Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau. One of the film's running gags has Hubert uttering "deep thought" epiphanies that belabor the obvious. While getting a massage, he announces: "I love being rubbed with oil." While at breakfast, he realizes: "I love buttering my toast." Stopping to gaze at a public fountain, he wistfully offers: "I love the white noise water makes." DuJardin delivers these lines with the knowing wisdom of a high lama, imparting a Zen proverb. I tell you, the man is a bloody genius. Not to be missed.
Description of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies
OSS 117 - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
![OSS 117 - Lost in Rio (2009) ( OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus ) ( OSS One Seventeen - Lost in Rio ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - France ] Image](/images/OSS-117-Lost-in-Rio-2009-OSS-117-Rio-ne-repond-plus-OSS-One-Seventeen-Lost-in-Rio-Blu-Ray-Reg-A-B-C-Import-France-B0043XSPPW-X.jpg)
OSS 117 - Lost in Rio (2009) ( OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus ) ( OSS One Seventeen - Lost in Rio ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/ B/ C Import - France ]Blu-ray
Best price: $42.69
Take ShelterSony; Release date: 2012-02-14; DVD
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops:
L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)Fox; Release date: 2003-12-23; Published: 2003-12-01; DVD
Best price: $4.32
Price in other shops:
Mesrine: Public Enemy #1Release date: 2011-03-29; DVD
Best price: $15.49
Price in other shops:
Brice de Nice (Region 1 DVD) (Original French Version with English Subtitles)DVD
Best price: $5.05
Ludovic Bource - The ArtistRelease date: 2011-11-21; Music CD
Best price: $8.72
Price in other shops:
Tell No OneMPI; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
OSS 117-RIO NE REPOND PLUSDVD
Best price: $9.63
Mesrine: Killer Instinct: Part 1Release date: 2011-02-22; DVD
Best price: $17.47
Price in other shops:
Oss 117: Lost in RioMUSIC BOX FILMS CORP.; Release date: 2010-08-31; DVD
Best price: $14.42
Price in other shops: