Spies of Warsaw

2013
6.7| 0h30m| TV-14| en
Synopsis

A military attaché at the French embassy is drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal and intrigue in the diplomatic salons and back alleys of Warsaw. A classic tale of spying, intrigue, and romance, based on the novels of Alan Furst and adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

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Reviews

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
jlthornb51 This is simply an abominable adaptation of the novel. Alan Furst's books are about period atmosphere and capturing the era more than plot. This film fails in the atmosphere category completely. That being said, as a spy film it's okay but it's in no way Alan Furst. The cast is excellent, although the leads have no chemistry. The plot is interesting but drags a bit. The suspense is minimal and the film simply moves from point A to point B. There just isn't much one can say about a mini-series that is not noteworthy in any way. It really is neither boring or engaging. Not terrible for a film but for an adaptation of a specific novel, an awful failure.
Reno Rangan BBC's television mini series about spy drama of pre world war II tension. Seen lots of lots of world war movies, but this one commence before the beginning of the war where spies from different region of Europe collide each other. So it is a cat-mouse game with many dangerous path ahead. It was a beautifully shot movie with sufficient art structure to construct curiosity in both the episodes. Definitely not like James Bond movie with lots of strong action sequences. I don't know about this book so I can't remark any differences between two. It had all the ingredients like romance, friends, betrayal, family and threats that a man as a spy who can go through in reality.It was based on the book which set in October 1937 in the capital of Poland, Warsaw. A French spy Jean Francois Mercier is assigned to look the situation on the German border. As his first report confirms something big is getting ready by the Hitler, which creates diplomatic tension between the neighboring countries especially Poland. So he hires some people to do inside jobs and that put many in danger. So constantly the locations change when characters start to explore in the cities between Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. Between all this he meets a young French woman and instantly fall in love with her. When the country near to be at war, what are their plans and how it can be executed is the rest which unfolds in an exceptional manner.It is a television series and does justice for what it has to be so if you are expecting like a Hollywood movie you will be let down. David Tennant was Amazing, one of his best performances I have seen. It was a bit slow in pace, but if you give a day gap between two episodes, it won't affect you much with the speed. You must remember it was not like todays spy movies where there is lots of equipment available to get in touch with the main office. But then it was left to that one man and he must take all the tough decision himself in the tight situations. So in my opinion, this mini series about serious issue was way better than the commercial movie which deal with the same subject. I believe it is a fine adaptation so you may try if you are interested.
AgentFalco I don't write many reviews but felt compelled after finishing watching this last night to warn others. How can such an interesting period of history be made into such an incredibly boring film. I felt no empathy for most of the characters which is ridiculous by the end I just didn't care. There was no chemistry between the two leads played by David Tennant and Janet Montgomery and Janet's character Anna in particular annoyed me and I didn't understand what Jean-Francois saw in her to make him so enamoured of her. At one point when Jean-Francois was in a deep depression because he was separated from his love I thought I was watching Twilight without the fun vampires! The only characters who felt conveyed the sadness of the war and the despair that was felt by so many as Nazi Germany began its move across the world was the old couple Viktor and Malka Rosen beautifully acted by Linda Bassett and Allan Corduner. I would only recommend to die-hard David Tennant fans.
Michael Dixon Sorry, but it is the leading man who mainly disappoints. David Tennant is totally miscast and is not helped by a poor script, awash with clichés.I have been to Warsaw three times and there was more tension in the air during my visits than here with spies all over the place.It may have worked with a different lead, as Tennant sleepwalks his way through the scenes and physically has an uncanny resemblance to John Laurie when playing the crofter in the original version of the 39 Steps.When he twitches those eyebrows he also looks like a mad scientist rather than the smooth Frenchman tempting every woman from Paris to Warsaw to jump into bed with him. Add to that a non-existent personality and you are left with a problem.There is absolutely no chemistry between Tennant and Janet Montgomery who is very unenthusiastic throughout. Some decent efforts by a few of the supporting cast, but poor old Julian Glover was given a bad hand with some awful lines.And the continual movement from Paris to Warsaw and back again several times over was very confusingSadly quite ridiculous.