Sidney Furie


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6.5 The Ipcress File (1965) Links:

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Sidney Furie, originario del Canada, già autore di Leather Boys (1963), uno dei prototipi del free cinema. Fondendo il tocco espressionista di Fritz Lang e il tono del cinema noir, Furie conio` uno stile nuovo, che sarebbe stato imitato dal cinema d'azione dei decenni successivi.

The Ipcress File (1965) e` un thriller fantapolitico, tratto dal romanzo di Len Deighton, che avvio` la serie dedicata a una sorta di anti-007, Harry Palmer, occhialuto, domestico e rilassato. La trama non e` particolarmente originale, ma il modo in cui il thriller viene condotto (quasi l'esatto opposto del melodramma pomposo di James Bond) e` molto originale.

Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is an ex-army sergeant who was discharged after being caught stealing and is recruited by the British secret services. Assigned to the case of a missing scientist under the supervision of the stiff Dalby, Palmer conducts his own investigation, largely ignoring the orders of his superiors. The missing scientist has been kidnapped and is the 17th case of the kind. Palmer's job is officially to find the kidnappers and pay the ransom to get the scientist back. In the process of the investigation, Palmer finds a tape labeled "Ipcress" and containing only weird noises. Another boss, Ross, would like a copy of the files, but Palmer refuses to help out. In the meantime, Palmer is seduced by an attractive collegue, Jean, and Palmer suspects she works for the rival. Palmer succeeds in conducting the transaction with the kidnappers (at the cost of accidentally killing a CIA agent), but the scientist has been brainwashed and remembers nothing. Palmer is ordered to get the ransom money back. A friend tips him on what "Ipcress" means: it's an acronym for "brainwashing".
The friend is murdered in Palmer's own car. Then Palmer finds the corpse of another American agent in his own flat. Convinced that someone is trying to frame him, Palmer asks Dalby for help and Dalby promises to take care of it. Soon afterwards, Palmer is kidnapped, taken to a cell and brainwashed to make him forget what he knows of this case.
Palmer is smart enough to partially resist the brainwashing and escape. He calls Dalby from the first phone booth and... Dalby is the one who ordered his brainwashing, because he's giving him orders and the last order is to forget that he gave him those orders (next to Dalby is the leader of the gangsters who kidnapped Palmer). Palmer meets Dalby and Ross in a deserted warehouse and points a gun at both, knowing that one of the two is a double agent but not knowing which one. Dalby orders him to shoot Ross, but Palmer resists and, instead, shoots Dalby. Ross admits that Jean was working for him.

The Appaloosa (1966) is a western in which a loner who has decided to retire falls in love with a desperate woman.

Iron Eagle (1986) e` un delirio di violenza propagandista: un ragazzino libera su un aereo da guerra il padre fatto prigioniero da un pane...? arabo. Little Fauss (1970): Redford è un motociclista mitomane che seduce, ruba, truffa, insegna a gareggiare al suo meccanico timido e onesto, che poi si mette in proprio, lo batte e lo umilia; proprio quando Redford ha messo la testa a posto, sposando la donna che ha messo in cinta, l'amico diventa cinico e spietato come era lui.

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