John le Carré's precise and ruthless Cold War thriller adapted into one of the most compelling and hard-edged spy epics there is.
It's the height of the Cold War, and British spy Alec Leamas (Richard Burton in an Oscar-nominated role) is ready to retire. But first, there's one final high-stakes assignment he needs to complete. Going deep undercover as a drunken and disgraced former MI5 agent in East Germany, Leamas is desperate to uncover information about colleagues who have been captured. When he's thrown in jail and interrogated, he finds himself caught in a sinister labyrinth of plots and counter-plots unlike anything in his long career. [102 min; thriller, suspense, drama; English]
"An excellent contemporary espionage drama of the Cold War which achieves solid impact via emphasis on human values, total absence of mechanical spy gimmickry, and perfectly controlled underplaying." — Variety
"It’s one espionage movie that neither comes on like gangbusters nor sneaks up on you like a cat burglar. Instead, it creates an atmosphere of anguish, fear, and rage that intensifies each pause in the action and gesture of the actors, leaving viewers hanging on every word of the sometimes cryptic, sometimes eloquent dialogue." — Michael Sragow, The Criterion Collection
"This is the definitive anti-Bond spy movie and the best big-screen adaptation of John le Carré." — Kevin Maher, Times (UK)
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