The Spy Who Came In From The Cold — The Spy Who Came In From The Cold( Blu Ray)

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a lulling grim-yet-cunning espionage thriller, which slowly but surely pulls you into its glum and glamourless world. Hooking you in with its wonderful nuanced acting, subtle twisting 'n' turning plot, and great stark settings. Here from Eureka Entertainment, as part of their Master Of Cinema series, is a great new reissue of the film- featuring 1080p new print of the picture, a commentary track, and a few other extras including a forty-eight-page inlay booklet.

Appearing in 1965 The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, was filmed in wonderfully atmospheric Black and white. It was the 11th film helmed by New York Director, Producer, actor Martin Rett(1914-1990)-who was known/ respected for his thoughtful and balanced portrayal of very real/ human characters. 

The film is based on the 1963 book of the same name that was written by Ex M16/ M15  worker John le Carré. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was the first big-screen adaption of le Carré work- and to date, there has been ten other big-screen adaptations of his work. The film is a wonderfully moody and grim character study-come lulling thriller focusing in on world-weary and hard-drinking agent Alec Leamas- played with subtle emotional depth and battered down charm by Richard Burton.
 
Until The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, big-screen spy/ espionage thrillers had been focused in on the more glamorous, smug, and gadget-laden world of James bound- by 1965 there had been four James Bound films made Dr No(1962), From Russia With Love(1963), Goldfinger(1964), and Thunderball (1965).  The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was really the polar opposite of what had gone before, and what the public knew- there were no action-packed stunts, no devious and overblown baddies, no cheeky one-liners, or womanizing ways. Instead, we get a selection of glum, troubled, and grey men in largely stark and shadowy locations trying to survive by their wits alone.
 
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold starts off at the Berlin Wall- where we find booze-in-his-tea Alec Leamas( Burton) keeping a late-night vigil on one of the gates of the wall, waiting for someone to come through- they finally appear to be gunned down, and Burton is sent back to London for new orders after spending seven years in Germany. And from here the film unfolds with the viewer unsure if Burton has either left the service and is slowly drifting into a life of drinking and a mundane job, or is he still working for the service deep undercover- and this along with the slowly twisting plot, and low key, yet wonderful nuanced acting is what keeps you held throughout the films nearing two-hour runtime.
 
Burton Is perfect in the role of Leamas- playing bedraggled, world-weary, and embittered (ex) Spy, wondering through the stark locations in his crumpled trench coat. He’s surrounded by some great actors- we have Claire Bloom as Nancy Perry, a seemingly plan Jane library worker whose a communist and Leamas girlfriend. There’s Oskar Werner as the black bere wearing German Spy Fiedler- who is seemingly cunning and manipulative. And the sinisterly shadowy Hans-Dieter Mundt played Peter van Eyck- who has few lines, but managers to portray the feeling of powerful and foreboding unease. The films score by Sol Kaplan, is fitting reserved and grimly moody- moving between glum jazz touched orchestration and stark piano sometimes string edged scoring. All in all The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a wonderfully realized first adaptation of le Carré work, and unlike many James Bond films still has  great depth.
 
 
Moving onto this Blu Ray, and the print looks wonderfully crisp and clear- really bringing on both the grim atmospherics and the cleverly nuanced acting. We get a commentary track from Australian film scholar Adrian Martin- and as usual, he does a great and rewarding job with his track. He starts off by discussing the opening scene, and how the production built a set of the Berlin wall in London. He moves onto discusses directors Martin Rett takes on filmmaking and how his work is often focused in on the nuance of human behaviour. He moves on to talk about Burton controlled acting, and his use of his intense stare. He compares the film to the original le Carre novel, he quotes from reviews of the film, and much more. So a track you could easily play again. Next on the disc, we get an audio essay from critic and filmmaker David Cairns about the film- this runs twenty-two minutes, and is most worthy. It blends together footage of key locations then & now, snippets from audio interviews with key figures connected with the film, and Cairns detailing the films seeming fairly difficult production. The finished release takes in a forty-eight-booklet featuring a new essay by Richard Combs, plus several archival pieces and imagery.
 
In conclusion, here we have a wonderful reissue of this classic slice of grimly moody and clever espionage thriller- with the Blu Ray featuring a great new print, and a good selection of extras.