BLACK BAG 

by Michelle

What does it take to make a great spy thriller? Forget about big explosions, lengthy car chases all around the world, overuse of scenes relying on computer work, and tons of fake blood after more fatal face-offs than targets on a shooting range. It turns out, this is all you need:
To start, take six spies (two couples and one married couple), give them a boss who appears only on a few but important occasions, add a seemingly simple but eventually very intriguing and complex main conflict, throw in an intense dinner party, a big touch of vintage, almost film noir styling, clever camera work and a simple but very catchy and fitting and atmospheric music theme.
Now come the main ingredients: a cast of seven brilliant actors, fitting their screen characters to the teeth, who simply KNOW how to act, and a director who simply KNOWS how to set up and direct a great story. 
And that's how you end up with Stephen Soderbergh's Black Bag.

To say I was excited to see this film is an understatement. One of my favourite actors playing in it, the genre and the intriguing trailers made me believe this wouldn't be just another Hollywood thriller. And I was right; it was so much better.

The premise of the story is quite simple: George (Michael Fassbender) finds out there is a mole in the special agency he works for. There are five suspects among his colleagues - including his own wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), a cold-blooded spy herself, yet absolutely devoted to her husband. But of course, because no spy on a separate, secret mission can discuss anything related to their mission with anyone not involved (they have to "put it" into a black bag), George has to keep his task to find the mole secret even from his wife. In his quest to find clues as to who the person he is looking for is, he employs an unusual tactic for the start - he invites all the suspects for dinner at his house...

Everything that evolves from that point is a series of very engaging, sometimes humorous, but above all highly suspenseful events, heavily presented by excellent use of clever dialogues, gradually revealing not only the leads to the mole's identity but also (if not even more) the flaws and weaknesses of the individual characters, making some of them re-evaluate their own life choices.  

While watching this film, I couldn't help but smile at how much it gave me the vibe of the golden, bygone era of most of the crime and spy thrillers of the 1950s-1970s. The main focus of those was on psychology and the exploration of the human (or inhuman) side of the characters. Since a very young age, I have loved films like Three Days of Condor, Wait Until Dark, Charade, In The Heat of the Night or All the President's Men, and they all carried these traits. While watching Black Bag, I felt like I was transported back to those times, while still watching a contemporary work as powerful, interesting and relevant as any of them. 

At the time of writing this, the film is still in the cinemas, so to avoid spoilers, I won't focus on the details of the plot and will mention only some of my personal highlights:

- Tom Burke
For me (honestly without any bias), the greatest element of this film. His versatility always astounds me, but it's the way he can conjure up any mood and behaviour of a character that gets me the most (from a drug-spiked and often hilarious guy with a problem to keep his hands off other women than his girlfriend, all the way to an angry and desperate man, feeling like an emotional loser). There are a few scenes in this film that are absolutely golden, mainly because of him. Once you have watched the film, you will understand. Besides, Freddie (his character) is technically the only character who breaks the tension at times, having the most amusing lines in the film 😁

- the dinner scene
I heard so much about it before watching the film that it was probably the scene I was looking forward to the most. It was fantastic!! Think of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? meets any great Agatha Christie detective story. The way Soderbergh and the writer David Koepp used dialogue here is absolutely masterful. Sometimes you don't know which actor/character to watch more: Fassbender's razor-sharp interrogative poker face, Naomie Harris's conflicted emotions, Marisa Abela's sadness and disappointment, Regé-Jean Page's part-suspicious and part-disbelieving nervousness, Burke's playful teasing and ease (and appetite) at first and anger and despair next, or Blanchett's mostly silent and observant coolness making you feel like you're watching a fox in a hen house, looking for its next victim? The twelve-or-so minutes of this scene are sheer delight, reveal a lot about each character and are some of the best in cinema history. And what happens at the end of it is... well, as unexpected and "whoa!" as hilarious, considering Burke's reaction! 😂😂

- the cinematography and lighting throughout the entire film

Peter Andrews (although surely guided by Soderbergh himself) did a marvellous job behind the camera. From long shots (following various characters in the same cut), to a range of wonderful angles and close-ups of faces at decisive moments, the brilliant use of camera makes many scenes feel quite intimate and yet fully focused on the characters, as if not wanting to miss a second with them on screen.
It has become fashionable in the past decade or longer to use little light while shooting, possibly to create a darker and more intense atmosphere. Luckily, Black Bag is anything but dark to the eye. Even in the evening scenes, you can still see everyone and everything perfectly clearly without often straining your eyes to decipher what is happening on the screen. Without the loss of colours and light, the intensity and suspense are still there. Another example of how you can make a modern atmospheric and tense thriller by using traditional lighting methods.

- Cate Blanchett's supremely cool and mysterious character portrayal

Until the very end, you don't know what side Kathryn is standing on - the good or the bad. Blanchett plays the cool-headed and self-assured (more than less) agent aware of her superb spy skills really to perfection.

- the polygraph test scene
Together with the dinner scene, this is my favourite. Using a similar rhythm although having the characters separated, the suspense created in these few minutes is absolutely brilliant, and it's great to watch each character unwillingly reveal more of themselves as people. 

- the performances of the whole main ensemble

Regardless of whether it's the screen veteran Pierce Brosnan (as the head of the agency), big names Blanchett and Fassbender, the British long-time miracle Burke (patiently waiting at Hollywood's gates), or any of the other main cast members creating this intricate web of spies, they are all at the top of their game - each very different but highly interesting.
Big ensemble films can be a curse sometimes, with not matching the right people with the right skills, but Black Bag is definitely not the case. 

- the final reveal scene

Agatha Christie comes to my mind again; it's an absolute joy to watch. And Freddie's line (and Burke's delivery of it) to his girlfriend (Abela) after the main "event" is... another moment to die for!😂😂

Not since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy have I enjoyed a spy thriller as much as this one. It's a fresh and modern story with a beautiful touch of Hollywood's golden era (which, I admit, I am a deep admirer of).

I can't wait to watch Black Bag again... and again... and again... And I'm overjoyed that Soderbergh put it out in its first run only in the theatres and not straight on the streaming platforms, for it will definitely be released on DVD/Blu-Ray and I will be able to get it and watch it any time I want, and not having to rely on streaming subscriptions left, right and centre.

Yes, you can call me old-fashioned, but maybe some things shouldn't follow the mainstream just to please. Sometimes they should swim against it.

Just like Black Bag.