Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, Philippe Lefebvre
Plot: The main plot starts with the disappearances of an OSS agent, Jack Jefferson, and a Russian cargo ship in Cairo. Agent OSS 117 is sent to investigate the events, since he and agent Jefferson share a history, shown in a short opening sequence and in flashbacks throughout the film. OSS 117 stumbles into a web of international intrigue, that involves the French, separate factions of Egyptians, Russians, a goofy Belgian spy and even Neo-Nazis of the first hour. Taken from www.wikipedia.org.
Imagine if you a will a movie that combines the overly rude and outrageousness of "The Pink Panther", the less over-the-top gags of "The Naked Gun", and the bumbling spy parody of "Get Smart." Now imagine this movie is French, and you have "OSS 117."
For those not in the know, "OSS 117" is a series of French spy novels wrtiten by Jean Bruce that predates Ian Fleming's "James Bond" series by 4 years. Now while the series was deadly serious this movie is a parody along the lines of the original "Casino Royale" (the one starring Peter Sellers and David Niven) where it uses the actual character but in a more humorous fashion.
After a black and white opening sequence involving a mustachioed 117 karate chopping a Nazi and throwing him out of a plane. (The way any movie should begin, really.) We are treated to a sequence of 117 in a bed with a sexy Egyptian princes wherupon she tries to kill him and then they tussle and he subdues her and then naturally has sex with her at her own wish. (AKA the way every single Sean Connery "Bond" film started)
Then he gets sent to the Cairo (because he is an expert on the Middle East) to find his missing partner, Jack. Upon arriving he pisses off a Muslim extremist group, some Nazis, and pretty much everybody else.
Jean Dujardin is fucking brilliant in the role of Hubert de La Bath/OSS 117, he is like a combination of Peter Sellers, Sacha Baron Cohen, and a young Leslie Nielsen. Which fits as he's more or less playing a sick amalgam between Inspector Clousseau, Maxwell Smart, and Frank Drebin. He has a certain cheeky pride in himself but at the same time he's also an aboslute jackass. One of the big jokes is that for an expert on the Middle East he knows relatively nothing about the culture. At one point this exchange happens:
I was woken by a guy screaming on a tower. I couldn't sleep. I had to shut him up."
(Shocked tone) "A muezzin? You `shut up' a muezzin?! He was calling for prayer!!"
(Bemusedly) "Yours is a strange religion. You'll grow tired of it...it won't last long."
Berenice Bejo plays the typical "I'm your enemy, I'm not your enemy, lets do it!" love interest found in just about every spy film. She's as two dimensional as her character requires and it works for her.
Berenice Bejo plays the typical "I'm your enemy, I'm not your enemy, lets do it!" love interest found in just about every spy film. She's as two dimensional as her character requires and it works for her.
Phillipe Lefebvre plays Hubert's partner Jack. Most of his appearances in the movie are via flashback. Every time Jack's name is mentioned Hubert very nostalgically says "Jack..." and drifts off to a flashback in which the two are standing on a beach in swimming trunks participating in some extremely homoerotic activity.
One of the finer things about this movie is the way it is filmed. With the exception of some very obvious CGI skeletons every single from of this movie looks like it was filmed in the 1960s. No steady cam, the car scenes are obviously filmed on a sound stage with a fake background, and the film quality has that nostalgic "old" look.
The film is one of the more subtle jabs at old spy movies. But there are several other jokes like the obligatory foot chase scene where Hubert actually gets lost in the streets of Cairo and has to ask for directions to find his way back, a scene where Hubert and a masked assailant have a fight by throwing live chickens at one another, and a Neo-Nazi unfurling the damsel in distress by pulling away a giant Nazi flag but accidently tearing it in the center and going "Shit."
Of course much of the humor comes from the title character such as when the Muezzin does the morning prayer and Hubert opens the window and goes "Shut the fuck up, I'm trying to sleep!" and a recurring joke about Hubert messing with the chickens by turning the lights on and off.
The big difference between Hubert and Jacques Clousseau or Maxwell Smart (the original one anyway) is that aside from being a stupid ignorant jackass he is rather good at what he does. He is actually good at fighting and shooting and its that cheeky arrogance he has about it that makes it so wonderfully delightful to watch. One scene he is attacked in a hotel room and as he is dispatching the would-be assassin he turns to the woman in the room and says "I love to fight."
The music is all period pieces and all independently composed. However they missed out by not having some overdramatized song that ties in with the title of the movie sung by some flash-in-the-pan artist over the opening credits like what was parodied in the Zucker Brothers comedy "Spy Hard" (Sung by Weird Al Yankovic and sadly the best part of the whole movie) But otherwise the tongue is planted firmly in cheek and executed perfectly.
"OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" is one of the finest comedies I've seen in some time. And really puts it to movies like "Austin Powers" to show that you can parody spy films and appeal to an audience that's not A) 13 or B) A douchebag.
I give "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" a 5 out of 5. It's a lot of fun and if you can get over the fact that you'll have to read subtitles you'll see that its worlds better than what you're used to.
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