Cambridge Spies | Tom Hollander, Samuel West | Upper Class Revolutionaries

Cambridge Spies | Tom Hollander, Samuel West | Spytime

DVDs:

Cambridge Spies

	Cambridge Spies Tom Hollander, Samuel West BBC Video, 2003 average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In 1934 four brilliant young men at Cambridge University are recruited to spy for Russia. Fueled by youthful idealism a passion for social justice a talent for lying and a hatred for fascism the four take huge personal risks to pass Britain's biggest secrets to Moscow. Starring four of Britain's most talented young actors this epic yet intimate drama brings one of the twentieth century's most compelling true stories to exciting new life.Running Time: 240 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794051186324

Upper Class Revolutionaries

This fine BBC docudrama depicts the lives of the four Cambridge spies from their university days, when they were recruited to do espionage work for the Soviet Union, through the defections of two of the four some twenty years later. Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, and Donald Maclean were members of Britain's upper class elite. From prominent, well connected families, they were educated at some of the best public schools and then Cambridge University. Their minds were as brilliant as their pedigrees, and they all seemed destined for the highest levels of diplomatic, social, and political careers.

Blunt and Philby, in public statements years after they were unmasked, all claimed that they became Communist spies in an attempt to better the world. You do see a little of this desire to make things better in an incident near the beginning of the film, when Burgess and Philby foment a strike by the waiters at their college, but overall the four don't seem to have had much first hand knowledge of the people whose lives they claimed to want to improve through a Communist revolution. The film does make clear the interesting point that the four were able to go about their espionage efforts for many years precisely because they were priviledged, elite people who knew all the right things to say and had entree into the highest circles. The proverbial old boys club was hard at work for these four, and they knew it and used it.

At times the film seems to overglamourize the four, toning down the more sordid aspects of their lives (except in the case of the flamboyant and disreputable Guy Burgess) and barely acknowledging that they did real damage to Britain and the rest of the West through their espionage. But its a well depicted and beautifully acted dramatic reenactment of one episode in the Cold War. The extra material provided on the second DVD is interesting as well, including interviews with Blunt and Philby after their unmaskings, BBC obituaries for Philby and Maclean, and a bizarre excerpt from a film about the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace, made in the 1960s and partly narrated by Blunt himself. (There's also a rather mediocre History Channel presentation about the Cambridge spies which provides a little more information about their lives and times.)

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Spytime

Philby, Burgess, MacLean, Blunt.

The four names associated with one of the most embarrassing episodes in Western politics. Moles burrowed deeply within the political mechanisms of Great Britain and the British Secret Service.

This BBC mini-series dramatization captures the life and times of the spies through the 1930s to the Cold War. The tone is sympathetic - idealists waging war against fascism, but get snarled the web of a bigger game - but the programs capture the period and oftentimes strange political alliances that swirled as Europe dragged itself into what became a global war.

Actors Toby Stephens (Philby), Samuel West (Blunt), Rupert Penry-Jones (MacLean) and Tom Hollander (Burgess) provide outstanding portrayals of their characters. The vast 240 minutes spanning two discs include a documentary that aired on the History Channel which covers the foursome as traitors, hence there is some balance within a historical - not entertainment - context.

Whether viewed as villains or products of a shadowy period driven by perceptions of good versus evil, this is a fascinating gaze into the rise and fall of the secret servants.

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Cambridge Spies

Brilliant! Leave it to the English to weave intrigue, romance, mystery & adventure with good solid drama. Not to mention a little bit of history. Casting on this movie coud not have been better and all the actors gave marvolous performances. If you likes Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, spy---you will like this one!

History, Facts and Fiction

Video was well done from Cambridge to the final exposure. Actors were superb and believable especially Toby Stephens and Tom Hollander. The one problem I had was with the spies never aging in a period of 20+ years. Even the porter at Cambridge aged when A. Blount returned looking as young as when he left. It was important for me to have the trailer with the actual video of A. Blount admission. I read Spycatcher by P. Wright after seeing this video; I'm amazed how much the British were able to accomplish in the Cold War with so many moles in their organization. John Le Carre's MI-V this was not!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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