Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Studio Trite
Not part of a collection.
The Russia House
Their love was as dangerous as the secrets they kept.
Barley Scott Blair, a Lisbon-based editor of Russian literature who unexpectedly begins working for British intelligence, is commissioned to investigate the purposes of Dante, a dissident scientist trapped in the decaying Soviet Union that is crumbling under the new open-minded policies.
- Original title
- The Russia House
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- $21,800,000
- Revenue
- $22,997,992
CinemaSerf
Dec 8, 2024 · via TMDB
Sean Connery at least looks like he's having some fun in this otherwise rather dry adaptation of the John Le Carré tale of Cold War espionage. He's "Barley", a publisher who is recruited by MI5 to investigate a secret document sent from the USSR purporting to itemise their nuclear arsenal. Needless to say both the British and their CIA counterparts are wetting themselves at the very thought of this being real, but that needs to be verified - and that's where they recruit "Barley". He travels to Moscow to meet the author, codenamed "Dante" (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and it's whilst there he becomes increasingly distracted by his "editor" (Michelle Pfeiffer) - a woman whom his source claims never to have met! As the plot develops, it becomes clear that strings are being pulled but also that "Barley" is beginning to think on his own, and not necessarily with his brain either. Will he stick to the plan or will he throw a spanner in the works of his Western handlers? It's a solid enough story but it's padded out far too thinly. There's no chemistry between the characters from Connery and Pfeiffer (and her ropey accent) and though there are plenty of red herrings to fuel the intrigue, that's all delivered in a remarkably sterile and disjointed fashion. Le Carré's stories always focussed on detail and this film rather skirts over that in favour of developing the burgeoning romance, and that rather neuters the sense of suspense that's also not really helped by the blandness of James Fox and Roy Scheider. It's watchable, but nobody's finest two hours.
Wuchak
Dec 16, 2020 · via TMDB
_**Artistic production with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, but uninteresting spy story**_ A few years before the fall of the Soviet Union, a boozy English publisher named Barley (Sean Connery) is sent a mysterious manuscript via a beautiful Russian editor named Katya (Michelle Pfeiffer), but it’s intercepted by British intelligence and Barley is coerced into going to Moscow & Leningrad to meet with Katya and the writer of the documents (Klaus Maria Brandauer), which contain technical data that calls into question the quality of the Soviet defense weaponry. Meanwhile both British and American agents (Roy Scheider, James Fox, et al.) surveil Barley’s activities. Based on John le Carre's novel, "The Russia House" (1990) is a spy drama/romance and NOT an action thriller in the mold of James Bond. Its considerable attributes include spectacular (and rare) on-location work in Russia (shot just a couple years before the fall of the USSR), Jerry Goldsmith's sumptuous jazzy score with Branford Marsalis playing soprano sax and, of course, the notable cast. The film is aesthetically pleasing and the love story is effective, especially its culmination, but the spy yarn didn’t interest me. This may because I didn’t utilize the subtitles and therefore missed a lot of the highly accented verbiage, which is a mistake when a movie is dialogue-driven, like this one. The depiction of intelligence work is presumably realistic (as opposed to 007), but static, boring, cynical and with little human decency. Next time I watch it I’ll be sure to use the subtitles. The film runs 2 hour, 3 minutes, and was shot in Moscow & Leningrad and points nearby; as well as Lisbon, Portugal (Barley’s flat); Bowen Island, British Columbia (American Intelligence 'safe house'); and London (book fair & jazz concert), as well as nearby Pinewood Studios. GRADE: C+/B-
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
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
Colin Stinton
Henziger
Denys Hawthorne
Paddy
Peter Marinker
U.S. Scientist
Nikolai Pastukhov
Uncle Matvey
Jason Salkey
Johnny
Christopher Lawford
Larry
Mark LaMura
Todd
Blu Mankuma
Merv
Tuck Milligan
Stanley
Jay Benedict
Spikey
Fyodor Smirnov
Watcher
Pavel Sirotin
Watcher
Martin Wenner
Scientist - Whitehall
Simon Templeman
Psychoanalyst - Whitehall
Raisa Ryazanova
Russian Guest
Kate Lock
Jacky
Charlotte Cornwell
Charlotte
Craig Crosbie
Technician
Michael Fitzpatrick
Hoover
Rob Freeman
Hoover
Aleksandr Yatsko
Russian Writer
David Ryall
Colonial Type
Nikolay Dik
major of KGB
Alexei Jawdokimov
Arkady
Constantine Gregory
KGB Interviewer
Jonty Reason
Delegate (uncredited)
Vladimir Kuznetsov
company representative (uncredited)
Vladimir Sidorov
an officer of the Leningrad police
Ian Baker
Director of Photography
Simon Finney
Second Assistant Camera
Fred Schepisi
Director
Adam Somner
Third Assistant Director
Perry Evans
Gaffer
Fred Schepisi
Producer
Leonid Vereshchagin
Producer
Nikita Mikhalkov
Producer
Branford Marsalis
Musician
John Patitucci
Musician
Jerry Goldsmith
Original Music Composer
John le Carré
Novel
Tom Stoppard
Screenplay
Flame and the Flesh
Impure Blood
Lady Against the Odds
I Really Hate My Ex
Faustrecht
The Loose Woman
Siltalan pehtoori
A Beautiful Mind
Fail Safe
If I Could Marry the Minister
Breakthrough
The Invisible Man in Istanbul
Dean Spanley
Goldfinger
Julie Ganapathi
Midaq Alley
Hunger
An Inspector Calls
The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity
Meren kasvojen edessä
From Russia with Love
Zappa
Oliver!
Teinen Oyaji Kaizou Keikaku
The Tin Drum
The Washing Machine
The Dimension Travelers
Nobody Leaves Alive
Tea in the Harem
Dr. No
Odd Thomas
It's the Heart That Dies Last
Northanger Abbey
Suicide Mission
The Mysterious Miss C.
Kotch
Grown-Up Children
Bartleby
The Secret of Moonacre
The Happy Camper
And So the Baton Is Passed
The Grifters
O Quinze
The Ambiguous Focus
Ask Any Girl
Poor Cow
Praise the Lord
So Evil My Love
In the Name of the Law
Tragic Vacation
Tell Me Softly
Heart o' the Hills
Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love
Storm Over the Nile
Dom Juan
Gigi
Force 10 from Navarone
A Tale of Two Cities
Silvery Wind
The Rhythm of Crime
A Round Trip to Love
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Age of Consent
Atlantis
Under The Greenwood Tree
Stegman Is Dead
Man on Fire
Varg Veum - Buried Dogs
The Last Grenade
Appetite for Love
Deadly Eyes
The Soldier
Mortal Transfer
Midsummer
Three Lives
The Passion of Ayn Rand
Black Eagle
Pride and Prejudice
A Round Trip to Love 2
Lízino štěstí
Dangerous Paradise
Nightmare in Venice
The Third Planet
In the Company of Strangers
Detransition, Baby
The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden
Kill Your Darlings
The Café at the Edge of the World
Aduthathu
Netrpezlivosť srdca
Karol Ketzer
Maniamies
Rajamaa
Three Chestnut Horses
The Lifeboat
Jennie Gerhardtová
Cukor
Flowers For Mrs. Harris
The Robber Bridegroom
Butterfly in the Typewriter
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Supremacy
The Secret: Dare to Dream
Argo
Missing
Bridge of Spies
Snowden
Labor Day
The Courier
Fail Safe
Traitor
Clear and Present Danger
Eye of the Needle
Breach
Rebel in the Rye
F.I.S.T.
Fair Game
Home by Spring
The Falcon and the Snowman
The Sum of All Fears
The Deadly Affair
The Tamarind Seed
The Tourist
Anna Karenina
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Blind
Little Nikita
The Saint
Secret Agent
Dec 21, 1990
