Eye of the Needle

I am satisfied with EYE OF THE NEEDLE. There are many plots and twists without great special effects or action. Anyway, the film shows a spy story set in the second World War and that is well directed. The picture and camera work is not as perfect as in today's big blockbusters but it doesn't shock because it is well compensated with historical details and facts from that war time. It's interesting seeing Donald Sutherland in this role as a lover and villain. He is for me one of the great actors that made many enjoyable thrillers. All in all a watchable movie that has a better class than these disappointing thrillers of nowadays and once again a DVD from the house of MGM that works for an entertaining Saturday evening. My wife and me vote 7/10 that matches exactly the actual vote of 7/10.

Eye Of The Needle is one of those films that I saw when I was a wee lad, which I watched again recently, to find out I enjoyed it as much as the first time (which rarely happens). Donald Sutherland plays the Needle, a German top spy who has a nasty habit with a knife. After taking pictures of a supposed American military base to spoil the chances of an American blitz, his plans are temporarily diverted when the boat he steals while getting away from those dang Allied forces, washes away on a beach, where Kate Nelligan and her husband lives. But they don't know his secret, and Sutherland must somehow make contact with a German U-Boat before Time Runs Out!! Everyone is wonderful in this. The plot sort of reminds me of I know Where I'm Going! mixed in with Breaking The Waves. Lots of twists and surprises to keep you going, A great popcorn movie!

Eye of the Needle is an oddly structured but nonetheless extremely effective film which in many ways is quite old fashioned in tone and feel,with the addition of a little 'modern'sex and violence. For almost the first half,the film is a fairly conventional but quite gripping spy thriller,as a German agent causes havoc in World War 2 England. There are few surprises,but Donald Sutherland is mesmerising to watch {even if his accent wavers} and the plot at least sounds almost plausible. The keen eyed,however,may spot mistakes in the period detail.

Then Sutherland is washed up on a Scottish island inhabited by a crippled man and his frustrated wife,and the film changes into an incredibly tense mixture of romance and thrills. Sutherland and Nelligan's affair may be basically sexual,but there is real chemistry between them and a real sense of desperation,of two lonely people throwing themselves together. The last half hour is real edge-of-the-seat stuff,perhaps almost bordering on psycho-thriller,but it really works.

Throughout the film Sutherland remains the villain and does do some nasty things,but it's a measure of his performance that occasionally we do come close to sympathising with him. Acting-wise though the film really belongs to Nelligan,a tragically underused and beautiful actress who has to go through the motions of loneliness and frustration,than lust,then fear,and eventually heroism,and does so superbly.

Aided tremendously by the last ever score from the legendary film composer Miklos Rozsa,who provides a moving love theme and some especially thrilling music for the last section of the film,Eye of the Needle perhaps shouldn't really work as well at it does,but that's a measure of it's quality.

I saw this film many years ago and have watched it more than once. The opportunity presented itself for me to see it again and it was just as good as I recalled it being.

This is probably the best performance of Donald Sutherland's career. You can argue for Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or Human Trafficking, or MASH, or even Space Cowboys, or many other great performances, but this is the film I will always remember him for.

As a German spy who has discovered the best kept secret regarding the Allied invasion on DDay, he had to be prevented from getting home to report to Hitlar. It was just an accident that he was discovered. The suspense of his job and discovery were heart-pounding. Oscar nominated Kate Nelligan (The Prince of Tides) gave an outstanding performance as a neglected wife who accidentally uncovered Sutherland's identity.

Worth watch over and over.

Hitchcock could have come close to the last half hour: look at his Frenzy, made seven or eight years before this for a peek at how similarly he looks in parts of this.

In fact the movie is only a notch below that film, better in some ways, much worse in others. The first two thirds being only standard thriller stuff that any decent director might have churned out. However once Sutherland reaches the island, his character takes on a kind of Frankenstein quality: the monster we thought we have been watching takes on a sudden pathos that you seldom get with run of the mill thrillers.

And for that matter, even in most Hitchcocks. Sutherland was a perfect choice for the role, and Nelligan is his equal. Very well cast these two.

The last minute of the film, without giving anything away slips a little.

It should have had that lopped off.

But that is a very minor quibble.

Also it is a very rare chance to catch one of Miklos Roszas scores. Rosza always could be picked out from any other, and he is more or less just going through the notes here, a long way from his best, but even Roszas worst were better than a lot of composers bests.

And compared to most of the thrillers of the eighties and nineties, this is a bloody masterpiece.