To receive my upcoming posts in your inbox…please sign-up for my RSS feed. UPDATE: Listen to the film commentary to learn even more…Ī great interview with Len Deighton author of the novel is available HERE. The bold imagery of The Ipcress File is really spectacular and I recommend all filmmakers take the time to watch this cinematic masterpiece. Back in 1965, Furie and Heller threw caution to the wind and utilized this technique as an integral part of the visual storytelling. Today most filmmakers look to build a frame within a frame while they compose a shot. Today it is second nature for any DP or director to shoot with something in the foreground to add depth to a shot. Apparently, Harry Saltzman hated how Sidney Furie shot the film and was so enraged he accepted the BAFTA for Best Film and never shared it with Furie. It also won the BAFTA for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best British Actor. The Ipcress File won the BAFTA for Best British Film of 1965. I think it is stunning, refreshing and effective. This style was considered so arrogant by Billy Wilder that he famously said “Furie couldn’t shoot a scene without framing it through a fireplace or the back of a refrigerator”. In the video below, I have compiled all 100 instances where the “frame within the frame” technique is used in The Ipcress File. What could have been a gimmick (if used once or twice) instead became a creative cinematic tool that was used 100 times during the film. This technique was used to both reveal specific story elements on screen and also to visually express the claustrophobic and unsettling tone of the film. In the past, a large foreground object usually meant it was the focus of the scene.įurie and Heller made every foreground object a ‘framing device’ that actively composed the shot. This is a stylish movie and one of the greatest British films ever made.The dazzling cinematography of Otto Heller This is a film I can watch time and time again, if only to watch the title sequence as Palmer gets up for work as if he is going to just another office job. This world was forever changed after the war. Tasked with investigating the kidnappings and brainwashed reappearances of top scientists, including Dr. (A reference to the decline of Britian as a world power and its reliance on America?) Wether intentional or not, this film has captured a London of the 60's that was going through substantial social change, gone are the class paradigms that suggest that the working class could never be cultured, gone is is the unquestioning loyalty to the upper class. Who is it, Ross or Dalby? Who is Courtney, Palmers love interest, working for? In the background is a rather sinister looking CIA, who always appear to be one step ahead of the Brits. As Palmer slowly unravels the mysterious disappearance of top government scientists it becomes clear that there is someone close to the top of the British Secret service acting as a double agent. Look out for the supermarket scene between Ross and Palmer, my vote for the most violent use of a supermarket Trolley in a movie. This perspective is aided by the stunning photography that uses every conceivable camera angle (even views from a light bulb!) to see the world from the characters perspective. Palmers superiors appear uninterested in the fate of their subordinates and this is one reason why the character of Palmer works so well, we are him, he lives our lives and we want him to win through. Palmer is clearly more cultured in his appreciation of food, music(Mozart & Bach) & women, "I like Birds Best" Palmer admits to Courtney played by Sue Lloyd (of Crossroads fame in UK). His superiors, Ross (played by Guy Doleman) & Dalby (Played by Nigel Green) represent a microcosm of the British Upper & Lower Middle Classes. Working Class Palmer is an unwilling Home Office agent with criminal tendencies who is more interested in a pay rise so that he can indulge his true passion, gourmet cooking, than serving his country. This London is still coming to terms with the end of World War II and the advent of a modern world. This London is drab and populated by civil servants & bedsits. This is not the Psychedelic London of Austin Powers or the Beatles, neither is it the sophisticated aristocratic London of James Bond. Michael Caines first outing as secret agent Harry Palmer is set in 60's London.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |