Funeral In Berlin

Twenty-for-Seven #15 (Day6)
1966, d. Guy Hamilton (many James Bond pictures) - AmazonPrime

I like a good espionage story, especially a retro one.  The James Bond movies aren't really espionage, they're more action built on the trappings of spy stories.  I like those too, but I dig things like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (and others in the Le Carre oeuvre) or The Sandbaggers tv show, real nitty gritty, no frills espionage.

Len Deighton wrote a series of spy novels about an unnamed spy in the 1960s, sort of as a counterpoint to the flash-bang James Bond mania, and it was these novels that became the "Harry Palmer" trilogy starring Michael Caine.  It's been almost three years since I watched the first in the series, The Ipcress File, which I loved, apparently, but barely remember at this point.

Like most spy stories, there's no continuing narrative, just new missions.  Harry Palmer is a workaday spy.  He's committed to a job that pays very little and supports him even less.  He's often being tempted by foreign agents but never wavers in his commitment.  In Funeral In Berlin, at least, we get no real explanation as to what Palmer's motivations are, other than severe commitment to service, and some sort of moral high ground.

In this second of the series (which could easily be watched on its own) Palmer is tasked to go to Berlin and support the defection of a high ranking Russian official.  Berlin, still cleft in twain, East and West, is a more and more fascinating setting the further we get from the 1990 reunification.  It's otherworldly at this point, a very distinct world.  Even at this stage of the mid-'60's the prosperity of the western side stands stark in comparison to the communist-run East.

Palmer needs to vet the Russian offical (despite already being cleared to support his extraction) and then he's tasked with finding a very explicit resource to do the extraction.  All of this of course is in addition to a "chance" encounter with a sandy blonde model by the name of Sam Steele who woos him and beds him.  Palmer, of course, realizes something's up when a beautiful woman is this quickly taken with him, and it's not long before he learns her secret.  The different threads start weaving together before becoming inextricably entangled, leading to a tense, yet largely action free finale.

Director Hamilton was fresh off of Goldfinger, the quintessential Bond, when he took up this one, so it's remarkable how little of that Bond feel spilled over.  Where the 007 lifestyle feels glamorous, Harry Palmer's life feels dirty, lowly, pauperish.  He doesn't get along with the boss, and is routinely trying to stick it to the man. Bond humour is more pithy, Palmer's barbs are cutting.

Caine is a remarkable leading man and handles this role like he's living in the skin of the character, feeling the cold chill in Berlin's damp air and the warmth of the whiskey he's sipping with a woman beyond his reach.  He effectively undersells his intuitiveness at every turn to disarm both the audience, his allies and the enemy when his competence rears its head.

It's methodically paced, but not at all boring.  I'm keen for round three, Billion Dollar Brain