The Russia House (1990)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writers:

Tom Stoppard (writer)
John le Carré (novel)

Release Date:

19 December 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

From John Le Carre's Best-Selling Thriller

Plot:

An expatriate British publisher unexpectedly finds himself working for British intelligence to investigate people in Russia.

Plot Keywords:

Russian | Russia | British Intelligence | Love | CIA

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Sean Connery	...	Bartholomew 'Barley' Scott Blair
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Katya Orlova
Roy Scheider	...	Russell
James Fox	...	Ned
John Mahoney	...	Brady
Michael Kitchen	...	Clive
J.T. Walsh	...	Colonel Quinn
Ken Russell	...	Walter
David Threlfall	...	Wicklow
Klaus Maria Brandauer	...	Dante
Mac McDonald	...	Bob
Nicholas Woodeson	...	Niki Landau
Martin Clunes	...	Brock
Ian McNeice	...	Merrydew, Embassy Rep.
Colin Stinton	...	Henziger

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:Livre (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:6 | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Pathé Entertainment

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the movie, at the American control center, when an assistant hands Ned a cup of coffee, he tips it enough that you can see the cup is empty.

Quotes:

Ned: The issue is: "why"? That's what you're looking for all the time: we trust the motive, we trust the man, and we can trust the material. Why did Dante pick on Katya? Why does he put her life at risk? Why does she let him? Is she a spy?

Movie Connections:

References À bout de souffle (1960)

Last of the Cold War dramas? (Not for the easily distracted.)

The Russia House is a superior spy romance movie which falls short of being great. Additionally a couple of factors have been unkind to it over time.

Connery and Pfeiffer are excellant; the large cast are almost uniformly outstanding (except perhaps Roy Scheider, who I usually like, but who seems a bit over the top in his role here); the Moscow scenery and end of the Cold War feel are great, and the main characters are easy to like, if difficult to outright love. On the down side the writing assumes too much in expecting the audience to stay on top of the espionage jargon and intrigue, added to the non-linear plot. Let your attention wander and you'll lose your way. If it had been a little easier to follow, it would have left more room for dramatic tension, which was adequate but seldom riveting.

When I said that time has been unkind to The Russia House, I meant two things: firstly that the unfortunate timing of the movie's release, a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union, ensured that it would be dated almost immediately. More significantly, a growing portion of the film's potential audience didn't live through the late Soviet Era, and the nuances of concepts like Glasnost, and why Perestroika makes it hard for Pfeiffer to do her shoe-shopping aren't going to mean a thing to anyone much under 30.

But that's not the movie's fault. Russia House is still a quality, enjoyable drama with a great cast, even if it's somewhat ponderous and slow-moving, and complex. And oh yes - it has James Fox. A film like this without James Fox would have been like a table with three legs.

7 out of 10