Modesty Blaise - The Deadly Lady
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Modesty Blaise - The Deadly Lady |
| Original title | Modesty Blaise |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 119 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Joseph Losey |
| script |
Evan Jones Jim Holdaway based on the comic strip of the same name (1963) by Peter O'Donnell |
| production | Joseph Janni |
| music | Johnny Dankworth |
| camera | Jack Hildyard |
| cut | Reginald Beck |
| occupation | |
| |
Modesty Blaise is a 1965 British agent film directed by Joseph Losey with Monica Vitti in the title role.
action
The British secret service chief Sir Gerald Tarrant hires the blonde adventurer Modesty Blaise on a special mission: she is to secure the transport of diamonds to Abu Tahir, an incredibly wealthy Arab sheikh in the Middle East. Gabriel, the head of a gang of thieves, and his followers McWhirter and Mrs. Fothergill, are also keen on the Klunker and want to get hold of them. Little does Modesty Blaise suspect that the urbane Gabriel is her opponent, she considers the notorious master of several Mediterranean islands dead. In Amsterdam, Modesty meets her former lover Paul Hagen again, who, like her, is a secret agent. At the same time, her current partner Willie Garvin and his ex, Nicole, meet again.
However, the young girl soon becomes the victim of an assassination attempt by one of Gabriel's men. Modesty and Willie now have to flee and decide to steal the diamonds themselves in order to secure a good life for themselves. But before that can happen, Gabriel is one step ahead of them again. The noble villain captures Modesty Blaise and as a result forces Willie to steal the gems for him. However, Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin escape the clutches of Gabriel, whereby Mrs. Fothergill has to die, and finally hand the diamond cargo over to Sheikh Abu Tahir. As a reward, the Sheikh gives Modesty the gems.
Production notes
Modesty Blaise - The Deadly Lady , conceived as a surrealist parody attempt on the James Bond films, was presented in May 1966 as a British competition entry during the Cannes Film Festival and released on September 16, 1966 in Germany. Late in the evening on May 26, 1972, it was first broadcast on German television on ZDF.
Leading actress Monica Vitti, who had to act with a blonde wig in this film, had celebrated a great international success the year before (1964) with Michelangelo Antonioni's The Red Desert .
Richard McDonald created the movie structures. The cost to manufacture was approximately one million pounds sterling. North American box office receipts were approximately $ 2.2 million.
Reviews
“This is a strange movie, but okay. Possibly if the whole thing was on par with some of his more flashy and funnier moments, or if it could keep up with the artwork, which is overwhelming, this could have been hailed as a top notch satire. But that is not the case. The film is also not uniform. He jumps back and forth between quick and clever gags on the one hand and sections of pure, boastful clowning. (…) Mr. Losey did a poor job when he had thundered his actors to indulge in a consistently eccentric, comical and satirical style of representation. Miss Vitti is just plain stiff and poses as if she had no idea of humor on her first attempt at English comedy. Mr. Bogarde is just brittle, without a parody approach and Terence Stamp downright heavy as a cockney sidekick of a prancing heroine. Harry Andrews is reasonably amusing as a British Secret Service guy, Michael Craig overdoes it as his assistant. "
The lexicon of international films says: “Adventure film based on a comic strip series popular in the 1960s, which is a bizarre and eccentric modification of the James Bond style. The unrealistic, emotionless staging defuses the sadisms and perversions that Losey is used to. "
The Movie & Video Guide wrote: “Shot at the height of the port art madness; tries to be a parody at times, but doesn't know what it should be in the other moments. "
Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: “Comic strip adventures made by people without a touch of humor. Fu Manchu was much funnier. "
"... an unfortunate excursion into the agent film parody ..."
"With this crime parody (1965), a film adaptation of the comic strip series of the same name, US director Joseph Losey wants to" finish off "the common agent thrillers."
“... an overflowing potpourri of crazy ideas and unstoppable playing around with clichés. Nothing and nobody is spared from ridicule, even photography icons of the Second World War are quoted and turned into the absurd. (...) But with so many ideas the film doesn't find a balance. (...) Joseph Losey's direction quickly loses the thread. It is really not easy to follow the winding story, which - if you understand it - provides more questions than answers anyway. (…) MODESTY BLAISE is a difficult film that does not make it easy for its target audience. As a comic strip adaptation, it disappoints the fans because neither the makers nor the main character take themselves seriously. Modesty Blaises' sixth sense is currently being emphasized for dangerous situations, when she behaves like a small child and lets herself be duped in the bathtub. But the film also struggles as a James Bond parody, because it dispenses with almost any action. It is true that he presents pretty little gimmicks such as fogging cigarette packets or the bow and arrow in miniature. Only he tells his agent story so tenaciously and almost bored. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Modesty Blaise - The Deadly Lady. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 17, 2015 .
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 869
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 689
Web links
- Modesty Blaise - The deadly Lady in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Modesty Blaise review in the New York Times
- Modesty Blaise review on filmtipps.at