The Russia House
"An absorbing yarn of romance and political intrigue!" -Variety
A filmmaking tour de force and "the year's most sophisticated, suspenseful and sexy entertainment" (Cosmopolitan), The Russia House stars Oscar® winner Sean Connery and Oscar® nominee Michelle Pfeiffer as two people caught in a web of spies and politics, whose love could prove fatal to them both.
When Katya (Pfeiffer), a beautiful Russian book editor, attempts to send British publisher Barley Blair (Connery) a manuscript written by a noted Soviet scientist, she unwittingly draws them both into a world of international espionage. The manuscript, which contains information that could alter the balance of world power, is intercepted by the West's spy-masters who then send Blair to Russia to gain more information on the mysterious document. But when Blair meets Katya, he finds himself torn between his mission and the woman whose passion for her country - and for Blair - knows no bounds.
Member Reviews
intriging - charlie005467
One of Sean Conneries best movies, better than his James Bond series. This movie potrays the idiosies of the cold war and how some of the players cannot leave it. The back shadowing is excelent. The tention starts at the begining a stays until the very end. Although you think of meny endings you do not know it until the end.Michelle Pfeiffer Super Spy? I Don't Think So. - CharleyJames
Sean Connery takes a role like a vitamin pill, then goes about his business of making the part his idiosyncratic own: British secret agents, Chicago Irish cops, monks of the Middle Ages, Lithuanian submariner: In Connery's hands they all become twinkly-eyed, witty salts of the earth with booming Scottish brogues. They win by bushy-eyebrowed force of personality.
In The Russia House, Connery brings that charisma to bear to make the movie work. He plays a British publisher on the skids who finds himself caught in an undercover affair involving MI5, the CIA, Soviet scientist Klaus Maria Brandauer and Russian mystery woman Michelle Pfeiffer.
Britain’s secret service gets wind of a letter written by Pfeiffer and smuggled to Connery from the USSR. It not only speaks to Connery on familiar terms but implores him to publish Brandauer's manuscript, a significant document about the Soviet Union's strategic capability to produce nuclear war. Connery, who does not recall meeting Pfeiffer, agrees to play de facto secret agent, wear a wire and make an offer. But when he sets eyes on Pfeiffer, things change.
Held up to any scrutiny, the adaptation is full of air. It avoids deep treatment of either the spy-versus-spy business or the inevitable love affair. It has the requisite code names. It has the eyes-only codespeak. It has the usual round of heavy-duty surveillance with cross-Atlantic friction.
The airiness in includes the notion that love conquers all, a contribution to that gaseous factor coming from Pfeiffer. As Katya, a mother who risks her family and love to smuggle a document and falls for a Westerner in the process, her gestures are awkward, her accent is awful.
But Russia never looked better. Director of photography Ian Baker shot an abundance of scenes in lovely, low-lying afternoon light, so that Soviet architecture and statuary is tinged with a perestroika warmth.Cold War intrigue - Superdave
There is little in the way of spy movie action hijinx here, but there is a nicely plotted late Cold War intrigue thriller surrounding a book publisher (Connery) trying to get in touch with a Russian scientist. The scientist has a female friend / go-between contact Connery and offer inside info on Russia's rocketry program, info that suddenly interests both the CIA and British Intelligence, not to mention Russian state security. Connery soon finds himself a pawn in a game of blind man's buff as both sides try to find out what the other wants and knows without giving too much away. This sort of gamesmanship often works better on the page than on the screen, yet I found this adaptation of John LeCarre's book sufficiently absorbing to keep my interest. Connery and Michelle Pfieffer are both likable in the central roles and there is nice atmosphere of paranoia here, suitable to the period.
Member Reviews
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intriging - charlie005467
One of Sean Conneries best movies, better than his James Bond series. This movie potrays the idiosies of the cold war and how some of the players cannot leave it. The back shadowing is excelent. The tention starts at the begining a stays until the very end. ...Michelle Pfeiffer Super Spy? I Don't Think So. - CharleyJames
Sean Connery takes a role like a vitamin pill, then goes about his business of making the part his idiosyncratic own: British secret agents, Chicago Irish cops, monks of the Middle Ages, Lithuanian submariner: In Connery's hands they all become twinkly-eyed, ...Cold War intrigue - Superdave
There is little in the way of spy movie action hijinx here, but there is a nicely plotted late Cold War intrigue thriller surrounding a book publisher (Connery) trying to get in touch with a Russian scientist. The scientist has a female friend / go-between ...