OUR KIND OF TRAITOR – JOHN LE CARRE FILM BEGS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY
The cast of this film is its trump card but having declared that, the story is also haunting, disturbing and riveting. Our introduction to the characters is gradual and the tale is initially delivered in an other worldy dream-like way where ostentation and violence pervade with no easy viewing for the audience. As the story unfolds with Dima played by Stella Skarsgard stealing the limelight throughout with his outlandish humorous and vibrant outbursts about how he can lead MI6 to a bunch of traitors in the UK taking laundered Russian money, we must not forget that he has a photographic memory and can therefore act as their number one spy.
Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harries play the unsuspecting couple who become enveloped in the drama ensuing through Russian Mafiosi and apparently illegal financial trading with the British elite. Fortunately, car chases and shoot-outs which are becoming so everyday right now are played down and the intellectual display and real fate of people caught up in big crime are more the points of this John le Carre story. It’s not the first of his novels to be made into an entertaining not to mention educational movie where sad to say, though, no-one seems to be trustworthy, including the seductive part played by the enigmatic MI6 main man Damian Lewis. A pair of charming twin girls feature as part of the package who need rescuing and bringing back to the UK and there is a story behind them which features in one of the sub-plots.
What is it in the psyche which drives us to want to watch deep and meaningful crime sagas ? Well, when we have the feeling that all the characters in the plot are real people like you and me we are magnetically drawn to living out their lives on the big screen just for a couple of hours. Our Kind of Traitor is so authentic, beleiveable and compelling that I defy any reviewer to say this is not a good film. Granted the beginning is a little slow but the pace hots up as the saga unfolds and screenwriter Hossein Amini has written it in a way that it reaches a crescendo just as the audience were becoming complacent. I think, now 84 year old Le Carre was a bit before his time in penning this tale and there is no ultimate fulfilling confusion as with many big crime sagas though there is some solace that some of the characters do receive a hope of a new start away from the Russian mafia…..
A glamorous looking gun features in the story which has been handed down, handed around, used to assassinate those whom each owner has chosen to do and ultimately ends up in the hands of the one person who might be able to resurrect a bit of belief in good old fashioned honesty. Together with that is one of the answers to the riddle of the story – see the film for yourself to discover this.
Our Kind of Traitor begs for a sequel. It would be so interesting if the screenwriter approached the author and discussed this for at the end of the film there are several unanswered plotlines. Leave the audience wanting more is a great adage. It is surely pertinent to quote this regarding Our Kind Of Traitor. Enjoy.
Penny Nair Price