Dir: Michel Hazanavicius | France Drama 2006.
Before Michel Hazanavicius established himself with his loving pastiche of silent cinema, ‘The Artist’ – shortly to be followed by his backhanded tribute to Jean-Luc Godard – he had already parodied a pair of early sixties spy films, of which ‘OSS1177: Nest of Spies’ was the first.
Based a popular series of novels, the film’s stated ambition was to resemble a spy thriller set in the fifties but made in the sixties. In the title role Jean Dujardin plays a French secret agent constantly presenting people with portraits of President Coty and so monstrously conceited that when told his next mission is to resolve the problems of the Middle East simply shrugs and says “No problem!”; while leading lady Berenice Bejo shows a Muslim woman can be stylish and graceful too. @RichardChatten
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