The needle (film)

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Movie
German title The needle
Original title Eye of the Needle
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1981
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Richard Marquand
script Stanley Mann
production Stephen J. Friedman
music Miklós Rózsa
camera Alan Hume
cut Sean Barton
occupation

The Needle is a British spy thriller from 1981, the script of which was based on the novel by Ken Follett . The film was directed by Richard Marquand . Donald Sutherland stood in front of the camera in the main and title role .

action

Henrik "Henry" Faber operates as a German spy in England during World War II . His nickname The Needle can be explained by the fact that he prefers to use a stiletto as a murder weapon.

After Faber discovered that dummies of British fighter planes were to be used to distract from the actual location of the later landing of Allied troops in Normandy, he wanted to personally deliver this information to Germany. After the coldly executed murders of several people who could betray him as a spy, he made his way to Scotland, off whose coast he was to be picked up by a German submarine. British counterintelligence agents are already on his heels .

Off the Scottish coast, Faber gets into distress with a boat and then as a shipwrecked person on a small island that is only inhabited by the married couple David and Lucy Rose, their son and a lighthouse keeper. The couple's relationship is not in good shape because David Rose had lost both legs in an accident several years earlier and he has become increasingly grumpy as a result. This is one of the reasons why Lucy Rose has a secret affair with Faber. Her husband will become more and more suspicious of him in the near future. He soon exposes Faber as a spy, and the showdown ensues: Faber murders David Rose by throwing him off the cliff in a duel, then he also kills the lighthouse keeper, whose radio is important for contacting the waiting German submarine. Finally Lucy Rose finds her husband dead in the water, which Faber doesn't know, so he claims to have spoken to David later, Lucy now recognizes her husband's murderer in Faber. Because of the affair with Lucy, Faber has scruples about killing her too, so she manages to shoot him while trying to escape.

background

  • In The Eagle Has Landed , Donald Sutherland played a spy in German service in the UK as early as 1976.
  • George Lucas was so impressed by Richard Marquand's directing that he subsequently commissioned Marquand to direct The Return of the Jedi .
  • The Allies actually maintained a ghost army near Dover, the 1st US Army Group , which was supposed to deceive the Germans about the location of the invasion.

Reviews

Lexicon of the international film : "Espionage story fluctuating between thriller and profound melodrama, which does not adequately characterize its characters and only reveals staging skills in the last third."

Roger Ebert , Chicago Sun-Times : “Some people will find the movie slow going. I preferred to think of it as deliberate. It is effective, I think to develop a plot like this at a deliberate pace, instead of rushing headlong through it. That gives us time to meditate on the character of the Needle, and to ponder his very few, enigmatic references to his own behavior. "(" Some people will find this film lengthy. I, however, think it is well thought out. In my opinion it is It is more effective to develop a plot like this in a deliberate step than to rush through it. This gives the viewer the opportunity to reflect on the character of the needle and the few, puzzling clues of its motivations. ")

Brian Webster, Apollo Movie Guide : "Eye of the Needle is a tense thriller that takes its time in building tension before exploding during its frenzied conclusion. (...) This is all believable and Sutherland's laconic acting style is well suited to the character of Faber, a careful, circumspect and vicious man. "(" Die Nadel is an exciting thriller that takes the time to build up tension before a tumultuous finale breaks out. [...] The plot is believable and Sutherland's laconic portrayal fits well with the role of Faber, who is cautious, careful and vicious. ")

Awards

The needle was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the Best Motion Picture category in 1982 , but failed to win that award.

Trivia

The off-road vehicle of the Rose family shown in the film is a German DKW Munga , but it was not built until October 1956.

At the time the film was set, there was no airworthy helicopter in England. The first was put into service in Germany in 1941, the Kolibri by Ing.Flettner. The helicopter in the film is similar to the Sikorsky R-4 , but at the time it was only in service in the United States.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The needle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 6, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times
  3. ^ Brian Webster: Eye of the Needle. In: apolloguide.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2007 ; accessed on September 26, 2017 (English).