Visually the film is beautiful, alternating between stark black and white imagery and repurposed old film footage to saturated, graphic collages; which along with an eerie, ambient score add urgency and danger with deft insight into a man who remains unknowable. What we do know, thanks to the director and historians interviewed - Is a fascinating, impassioned and disturbing portrait of a major part in history. Wallerstein never glorifies Reilly, the shadowy anti-hero whose enigmatic narrative (some of his own questionable creation) and whose fascinating unquestionable place in espionage history has influenced writers like Ethel Boole and Ian Fleming. Fittingly, Reilly's own fictions about his identity are far more believable than the trail of his exploits, subterfuge and mastery in this sophisticated exploration of espionage pre-technological advances.
Despite the fantastic story, Reilly's own history (particularly in its fictions) is recognizable as a take on a classic immigration story - Heavily reinvented to survive and create the life or lives that he wanted...In Reilly's case, often at whatever cost to whom or whatever was in his way. The film's release is also incredibly timely, drawing connections from Reilly's lifetime and life's work to the events of modern day Ukraine, Russia and surveillance (often voluntarily on our ends) in this day and age. "Spymaster: The True Story of Sidney Reilly" is an exceptional film about a fascinating, almost unbelievable story. I deeply look forward to the director's next film.
