A Most Wanted Man
Director: Anton Corbijn
Writers: Andrew Bovell (screenplay) and John LeCarre´ (novel)
Unlike Tinker, Tailor and other LeCarre´ books that have been turned into movies, A Most Wanted Man does not consider how the betrayal of one’s country is predicated on the betrayal of one’s loved ones, friends, and colleagues. Instead, A Most Wanted Man highlights the psychological stress that is produced when the uncertainty inherent in counterespionage is magnified by risk of making life and death choices. The protagonist (brilliantly portrayed by Seymour Philip Hoffman), Gunther Bachmann, is torn by his obligation to prevent another 9/11 and the limits within which he conduct his job; by his self-imposed duty to protect his team and network of assets and the requirement he has to expose them to danger; and the suspicions he harbors toward his superiors and U.S. agents’ intentions on the one hand and his knowledge that he must trust them to succeed. (The intensity of Bachmann’s psychological struggle is shown in the way Hoffman’s uses an air of tiredness, alcohol, and an ever present cigarette.)
September 11 was hatched, or least incubated, in Hamburg. Bachmann and his superiors are determined to atone for not identifying the 9/11 terrorists; and a CIA agent (Robin Wright) is determined to guide their atonement. Issa (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a Chechen illegal immigrant and Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), a Muslim philanthropist, have been identified by Bachman as possible terrorists. Bachmann, however, is not sure that Issa and Abdullah are terrorists. The U.S. position shaped by the fears generated by 9/11 want suspected terrorists to be kidnapped and interrogated in a country that has no limits on how interrogations are conducted (i.e., extraordinary rendition). If they are terrorists, then Bachmann wants to confirm their intentions and then use them to identify other terrorists. Bachman’s superiors are sure that they want to please the U.S.
As Bachmann moves through a labyrinth of official and unofficial espionage bureaucracy to confirm the Issa’s and Abdullah’s motives, he is restrained as he balances the half-truths and deceptions he encounters with those he must use. Bachmann promises Annabel (Rachel McAdam), a lawyer who is representing Issa, her client will be allowed to stay in Hamburg if he cooperates—a promise that he knows is beyond his power. Like the war on terrorism itself, this movie has not satisfying conclusion, only an explosive ending.
Director: Anton Corbijn
Writers: Andrew Bovell (screenplay) and John LeCarre´ (novel)
Unlike Tinker, Tailor and other LeCarre´ books that have been turned into movies, A Most Wanted Man does not consider how the betrayal of one’s country is predicated on the betrayal of one’s loved ones, friends, and colleagues. Instead, A Most Wanted Man highlights the psychological stress that is produced when the uncertainty inherent in counterespionage is magnified by risk of making life and death choices. The protagonist (brilliantly portrayed by Seymour Philip Hoffman), Gunther Bachmann, is torn by his obligation to prevent another 9/11 and the limits within which he conduct his job; by his self-imposed duty to protect his team and network of assets and the requirement he has to expose them to danger; and the suspicions he harbors toward his superiors and U.S. agents’ intentions on the one hand and his knowledge that he must trust them to succeed. (The intensity of Bachmann’s psychological struggle is shown in the way Hoffman’s uses an air of tiredness, alcohol, and an ever present cigarette.)
September 11 was hatched, or least incubated, in Hamburg. Bachmann and his superiors are determined to atone for not identifying the 9/11 terrorists; and a CIA agent (Robin Wright) is determined to guide their atonement. Issa (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a Chechen illegal immigrant and Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), a Muslim philanthropist, have been identified by Bachman as possible terrorists. Bachmann, however, is not sure that Issa and Abdullah are terrorists. The U.S. position shaped by the fears generated by 9/11 want suspected terrorists to be kidnapped and interrogated in a country that has no limits on how interrogations are conducted (i.e., extraordinary rendition). If they are terrorists, then Bachmann wants to confirm their intentions and then use them to identify other terrorists. Bachman’s superiors are sure that they want to please the U.S.
As Bachmann moves through a labyrinth of official and unofficial espionage bureaucracy to confirm the Issa’s and Abdullah’s motives, he is restrained as he balances the half-truths and deceptions he encounters with those he must use. Bachmann promises Annabel (Rachel McAdam), a lawyer who is representing Issa, her client will be allowed to stay in Hamburg if he cooperates—a promise that he knows is beyond his power. Like the war on terrorism itself, this movie has not satisfying conclusion, only an explosive ending.