A MOST WANTED MAN - Tuesday 5th August 2014.

Starring, tragically, in his last lead role, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays German anti-terrorism Chief, Gunther Bachmann in this tense, taut telling of a 2008 John le Carre novel 'A MOST WANTED MAN', which I saw last night at the Cremorne Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. I like a good spy drama, and they don't make 'em like this so much anymore, and because it is PSH's last  lead film role (the final 'Hunger Games' instalments are currently in post-production) this just added more weight as to why I should see this!

Directed by Anton Corbijn, and set in Hamburg post 9/11 the opening scene has half Chechen and half Russian Muslim, Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) crawling out of the harbour undercover of the night - cold, wet and doubtless somewhat anxious! Latching on to Hamburg's Islamic Community he finds safe haven in the house of a local couple where we learn he was imprisoned in Turkey and then Russia where he was savagely tortured before hatching his escape to Germany where he seeks asylum. He is in Hamburg to claim a vast inheritance from his father's ill-gotten gains, and the money is locked away in a private bank to which he has no access other than a mans name and an account number written on a scrap of paper. The man it turns out is the owner of the bank - Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe) who needs to satisfy himself that Issa's intentions are genuine, he is who he says he is and that he does have a claim to a fortune that is worth in excess of ten million Euros.

In the meantime, Karpov has appeared on the radar of Gunter Bachmann and his covert crew of local undercover anti-terrorism cohorts and so they keep him under close surveillance to determine what exactly he is in Hamburg for. All the while the US are doing likewise in the form of US Embassy Attache Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright) who has conflicting views on Karpov's intentions and motivations. The two organisations have to join forces and reach a quick accord - so the US agree to give the Germans 72 hours to prove and shut the Karpov case, or they will go in all guns blazing (figuratively speaking) and lock him away never to see the light of day again!

Karpov meanwhile has been befriended by Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams) a human rights lawyer who sees the good in him and provides the link to Banker Brue, and what needs to be done to release the inheritance funds.

The questions being asked here surround Karpov's motives - terrorist in disguise seeking a huge stash of cash to fund terrorist activities back home, or, is he an oppressed victim seeking asylum and a fresh start in life? It is Bachmann's job to uncover the truth and minimise the fall out, but the clock is ticking with only 72 hours in which to do so. The truth must be told to Brue, Richter and Sullivan for his plans to determine the reality to succeed, and so they all get drawn into a web of intrigue with Karpov becoming our 'most wanted man' unknowingly and possibly unwittingly!

Hoffman plays it brilliantly as we have come to expect from  his nuanced, believable and realistic performances of fractured men carrying around the excess baggage of life. Here he is the chain smoking, whisky guzzling leader of an undercover spy outfit that is not recognised or acknowledged by the German authorities because they operate for the safety of the nation, but outside the law.  He has been around a long time and has seen service in the worlds trouble spots tracking down and thwarting acts of terror - although not always successfully as we learn when a little of his back story is revealed, and for this he has become world weary, overweight, laboured, smokes and drinks too much but is expert at what he does, and oversees a tight knit team.

This is a slow burning film the likes of which you have seen in a previous le Carre big screen adaptation 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. Don't expect car chases, gun play, big explosions and burning buildings - there is none of that! This is a thoughtful, intelligent, grounded adult spy drama with solid performances from its strong cast that also include Daniel Bruhl and Herbert Gronemeyer. It is however, Hoffman's film and his performance will be ranked amongst his career best. Appearing in almost every scene holding a cigarette and speaking with a thick German accent, when he exits his car in the final frames, with the camera filming from inside as he walks away for the last time with his back to the audience, this is a particularly poignant scene, for many reasons!

   

-Steve, at Odeon Online-