OSS 117 – Cairo, Nest Of Spies (2006/Music Box/MPI DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
Before
Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, there were many works of spy fiction and
several series of spy stores like Bulldog Drummond or action books that were
very closely related like The Saint.
Jean Bruce had his own series of adventures with Hubert Bonisseur de La
Bath aka OSS 117, turning out 91 books in the series before his untimely death
and even more were produced afterwards.
Also produced have been several feature film incarnations and to the
surprise of some, the character has returned in Michel Hazanavicius’ surprise
worldwide hit OSS 117 – Cairo, Nest Of
Spies (2006).
Well, it
was not the hit it could have been in the U.S., but it finally has arrived on
DVD from the Music Box imprint of MPI Home Video and I can see the appeal. Jean Dujardin is the sixth actor to take on
the role of the spy, but here, it is being played for laughs and as tribute to
the groovy spy films of the 1960s in a way that the outright laughs of an
Austin Powers never could. Instead, it
is a clever, funny, smart, mature send up on the action level that is a
throwback to the whole Cold War cycle of action spy films, looking and playing
like them. On top of Bond and anything
non-spy Indiana Jones took from, you can see hints of the French New Wave
style, the widescreen/bigscreen Hollywood (and some overseas) productions that
an underrated film like Down With Love
sent-up so well and a sense of the larger world movies have lost figuratively
and literally.
As a
comedy about an inept spy, it is closer to the original Get Smart TV series than the recent feature film with Steve Correll
was and is set in the 1950s, despite its often also 1960s feel. The comedy works more often than not, and
though I was not laughing so hard it hurt, I was constantly amused and
impressed with how much fun this was. Of
course, part of its appeal may be lost on a larger audience who does not get
the jokes or what the satire is aimed at, but if it is your kind of comedy, you
might find OSS 117 – Cairo, Nest Of
Spies funnier than you’d think, making you wonder why you had not heard of
the film in the first place.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is unfortunately a little softer throughout
than I would have liked, but this is a really good looking film and Director of
Photography Guillaum E. Schiffman, A.F.C., uses the full frame (shot in 35m
film) effectively and to both ends.
Movie fans and home theater owners will enjoy the look and hopefully
we’ll get a Blu-ray soon. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo is not bad and has mixed Pro Logic surrounds, but is a good
recording and might have a multi-channel master. Extras include a hilarious gag reel with
Dujardin and co-stars including Aure Atika and Berenice Bejo cracking up in
some scenes they need to play serious for it to be funny.
We have
read that a sequel was recently released as this was that big a hit and if it
is as funny or funnier, we can’t wait!
- Nicholas Sheffo
