Classic International Movie: “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”
October is classic international movies month. Today’s guest post comes from John Henderson.
Movie Title: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (French title: OSS 117: Le Caire, Nid d’espions)
Year: 2006
Writers: Written by Jean-François Halin; Based on the ‘OSS 117’ novels by Jean Bruce; Adaptation by Jean-François Halin and Michel Hazanavicius
Lead Actors: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Richard Sammel
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Plot Summary: Secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117, who, in the tradition of Maxwell Smart and Inspector Clouseau, somehow succeeds in spite of his ineptitude. After a fellow agent in Cairo is murdered, Hubert is ordered to take his place.
Why I Think This Is A Classic International Movie
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, is a French parody of the early James Bond movies and European spy films from the 1960s. It stars Jean Dujardin as Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117, a French secret agent in 1955 sent to Cairo to investigate the disappearances of another OSS agent and a ship full of weapons.
Similar to 1980’s Airplane!, this movie stays true and respectful to the genre and era it’s parodying. This admiration is evident in the style of the movie which looks and feels like a movie made in the late 50s/early 60s. The cinematography, costumes, locations, lighting, production design, even the special effects are thorough recreations of movies like Dr. No, Charade, and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. Even the night scenes are shot day-for-night, a technique used in many movies of that era to simulate a night scene while filming in daylight.
Dujardin is perfectly cast as OSS 117. He bears a resemblance to 60s era Sean Connery and has the physicality for the action scenes but it’s his comic timing that’s most important as OSS 117’s aptitude as a spy is surpassed only by his arrogance, chauvinism, and culturally insensitive attitude towards other cultures. The character possesses no self-awareness, with much of the humor built around how he thinks himself to be suave and sophisticated when, in reality, he’s repelling everyone around him with his unintentional racism and sexism. It’s this insensitivity that provides the movie its humor as OSS 117 constantly creates more trouble for himself by simply not shutting up. It’s a testament to Dujardin’s ability to make a character with no social skills likable which make this movie work. He’s also not afraid to look silly or even stupid, especially in a scene where he has to pass himself off as an Arab musician:
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies was a huge hit in France when it opened in 2006, grossing over $21 million. It was nominated for five César Awards, the French equivalent of the Academy Awards, including ones for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Dujardin for Best Actor. The movie spawned a 2009 sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio (French title: OSS 117: Rio ne Répond Plus).
Director Hazanavicius would reteam with Dujardin, Bejo, and cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman for 2011’s The Artist, which was a faithful recreation of silent era movies. The movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Dujardin.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie
In many spy movies, a character will pick up a phone to inform his boss the hero spy has arrived. This movie features a character constantly calling his boss that OSS 117 has arrived somewhere. The voice on the other end of the line grows increasing agitated by these calls and eventually shows up and beats the informant to death.
Another favorite moment concerns OSS 117’s cover role in Cairo as a chicken wholesaler. When he discovers the chickens cluck like mad when the lights are on — but are quiet when they’re off — the secret agent amuses himself by flipping the light switch off and on.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie
OSS 117: Good evening, Larmina. You get prettier by the hour. I can’t wait till tomorrow!
Larmina: Inch Allah! Shall I drive?
OSS 117: I can’t refuse a dark-eyed brunette.
Larmina: And blue-eyed blondes?
OSS 117: In any case, you’re my kind of woman.
Larmina: What if I were a midget with glasses?
OSS 117: I wouldn’t let you drive! Preposterous.
………………………..
Larmina: My father was a great man. If he hadn’t played paddle ball, he would have led the revolution!
………………………..
OSS 117: By the way, I was woken by a guy screaming on a tower. I couldn’t sleep… I had to shut him up.
Larmina: A muezzin? You shut up a muezzin?
OSS 117: The…?
Larmina: …Muezzin. He was calling for prayer.
OSS 117: Oh, I didn’t know. That’s what the ruckus was. The screaming, the mike… Yours is a very strange religion. You’II grow tired of it.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie
OSS 117 first appeared in a series of novels by Jean Bruce starting in 1949, years before the first Ian Fleming James Bond novel was released. Seven movies were made between 1956 and 1971 based on the novels, however they are all serious action/adventures, not comedies like OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies.
The opening credits feature animation in the style of Saul Bass, famous for creating title sequences in the 1950s and 60s for such movies as The Man With the Golden Arm and Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest and Vertigo.
Thanks, John!
To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of classic 30s movies, 40s movies, 5os movies, 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on classic international movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got at least 22 movies in the works and hopefully more!
Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can!!!
A Prophet — Paul Graunke
Akira — RealThndrMonkey
Amelie — Kevin Curran
Belle Epoque — Melinda Mahaffey
Cinema Paradiso — Traci Nell Peterson
Diabolique — Sherin Nicole
Jules et Jim — Susan Winchell
Kolya — Melinda Mahaffey
Millennium Actress — Chris Neumann
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies — John Henderson
Reprise — Wally Marzano-Lesnevich
Seven Samurai — Will King
The Lives of Others — PaulG
The Tenant — Marija Nielsen
This Man Must Die — Marija Nielsen
Looking for more volunteers, your chance to memorialize your favorite international movie and yourself as a contributor to our ongoing blog series on classic movies.
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