Recently I have viewed three
films, two for the first time and one an old favourite which cover the dramatic
change that taken place in government intelligence with the digital era- Allied (WWII), the Ipcress File (the Cold War) and Snowdon, together with one documentary which covers the escape of
Snowden from Hong Kong to Russia.
The 1965 film the Ipcress File was the second major
film within three years on brainwashing, in this instance using electronic
sounds in addition to a disorientating environment and I could not resist
seeing again when it appeared on the electronic programme guide. The first film
was the Manchurian Candidate (1962) based on the embedded psychological transformation
of a Korean War prisoner which can be triggered subsequent and remade for
release in 2004. The two films which interested me more because they dealt with
the ability to manipulate and control people is the classic George Orwell 1984,
a book, film and radio play and the relatively unknown Control Factor (2003). The Ipcress File is based on the book
by Len Deighton with Michael Caine in the role of Harry Palmer, an army soldier
blackmailed into becoming a Watcher for the security services after some unauthorised
private enterprise when serving in the army of Occupation in Germany. He is transferred
to a special ops unit after an alarming number of scientists disappear in
circumstances which cannot be attributed to the much talked about “brain drain”
at that time. The character of Palmer fits the traditional projection of the
British low level operative, single but able to manage a home (he likes to cook
with quality ingredients, reprimanding a senior officer who recommended an
inexpensive brand of tinned mushrooms compared to the original champignons, and
he is well read and an educated musical ear.
Another of my favourites of the genre is Callan with Edward Woodward.
Harry Palmer was intentionally
created not to being the same class or league as James Bond although he has a
roving eye, is creative in his approach and commands loyalty and help from friendship
accumulated along the way. In this instance,
he sees several of his new colleagues murdered and an attempt to frame for the
murder of a CIA officer at his flat. The
action centres on tracing the person likely to be engaged in the trafficking of
the abducted scientist. When the scientist is recovered for a ransom payment he
is found to have been brain washed and memory cleared. When Palmer begins to
suspect one of this two bosses is a traitor he is abducted believes he is
solitary confinement in a Soviet state and given the treatment, but managing to
retain some self-control and memory by self-injury pain. He and his audience then face a difficult
choice between which of the bosses is the traitor and which to kill. Fortunately,
his judgment is correct. Ipcress stands
for An Introduction into Conditioned Reflex Under Stress. This film is also
entertainment with low level technology reminding of all those large computer frames
with flashing coloured lights to signify brain power processing
Len Deighton wrote four book
on Harry Palmer with Michael Caine starring in the three made into films
(Funeral in Berlin and Million Dollar Brain. Harry Palmer is said to appear in
two other Deighton Works Spy Story and Twinkle Twinkle Little Spy. Michael Caine two decades later reappeared
as Harry Palmer in two films, not based on the work of Deighton Bullet to Beijing
1995 and Midnight in St Petersburg 1996. I have one Len Deighton novel, a
hardback edition of Close on the Film Industry.
The world of spying, its treachery,
double dealing and expendability of agents in the national interest is well
documented on film book and documentary. At present among the books being read
is the biography of Le Carre. A more realistic presentation of the Spy can be
experienced through the works of Le Carre and I have his books, Smiley’s People
(and DVD), The Honourable Schoolboy, Tinker Tailor. Solder. Spy (and DVD), The
Russia House and DVD, The Mission Song and the Constant Gardener (and DVD) together
with the DVD of the series, the Perfect Spy together with the BBC radio series
which also includes The Secret Pilgrim. Call for Dead, the looking Glass War, a
Murder of Quality, the DVD of the Deadly Affair and the most haunting of them
all The Spy Who Came in from the Cold with a memorable performance on screen by
Richard Burton (have the DVD).
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