'Black Bag', refined spy-movie of yesteryear
In cinemas, Steven Soderbergh's new film with a rich cast: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett and Pierce Brosnan
3' min read
3' min read
It is certainly nothing new that Steven Soderbergh likes to play with the cinema of the past: one only has to think of the way he reworked classic noir in 'Intrigue in Berlin', or how he took up the dynamics of 1950s and 1960s American cinema in films such as 'Ocean's Eleven' or the more recent 'No Sudden Move'.
In 'Black Bag', the most important film among the new releases in the theatres, he instead draws on the spy cinema of the 1970s, but also mixes several references to Alfred Hitchcock's films, combined with a sprinkling from the 007 saga (the presence of Pierce Brosnan is no coincidence).
The protagonist is secret agent George Woodhouse, who receives a delicate assignment from his superior: he has only one week to find out who inside the agency has stolen Severus, a top-secret piece of software. Among the five suspects is George's wife Kathryn, herself an agent. In an attempt to unmask the traitor, George invites the other four suspects to dinner at his home, but that evening an unexpected event changes everything: his superior dies suddenly of a mysterious heart attack and George's doubts about his wife begin to grow.
The hand of David Koepp can be strongly felt in the writing process: the American screenwriter has worked on several scripts in the past - from 'Mission: Impossible' to 'Jack Ryan' - centred on the dynamics of espionage, intrigue and mysteries that are definitely present in this feature film as well.
