The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

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DanTheMan 2 @DanTheMan2150AD Jan 12 Capturing the Cold War in all its chilly complexity, as dangerous as it is frustrating. It expects a lot from you, rewards you for it, but outsmarts you all the same. It sees its spooks intelligent, observant, constantly updating their assessments of each other and anxiously manoeuvring through an uncertain world, where no allegiance can be trusted. A murky, unglamorous and workmanlike take on the espionage genre that puts the intelligence in intelligence. Where everything is painted in shades of grey, no one is ever certain of anything and spycraft is about savvy, subtle cunning and the ability to discern true motives from false flags. There's a cold edge to Martin Ritt's deadly tale of deceit. A wrongness which inhabits every dark corner. Every bit as precise and ruthless as the book, suffused with just the right amount of political and social consciousness. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is about as close cinema has ever gotten to actual spy work. See more Randy A. @Randy36 Jan 5 I probably watched this when I was a kid and all we had was a black and white TV. 1/5/26 See more Alison O @RT07742567 Nov 28 Fabulous representation of an iconic story. I was impressed by the quality of the acting, the lighting and the filmic music. Moody, chilling, interesting. Loved it! See more Ted B @Movieaddicted 06/18/2025 3.0 stars; Just like the reviewers said...the reverse of a James Bond spy thriller. The thrills came from an excellent performance by Richard Burton. A good recreation of the Berlin Wall Cold War period. I guess my only issue with the film was the extremely slow pacing of the plot. Way too much time was spent setting up characters and the associated spy plot. See more nick s @Nick_S 11/05/2023 Maybe I was not in the right mood for this film because I found it's dragging pace rather tedious. Burton seemed to be in a drunken stupor, which I guess was his character but it was a chore to watch. The cinematography was great and nothing wrong with the talent. See more Tony S @RT94004908 06/19/2022 The polar opposite of Bond films and novels, as well as any other spy-related extravaganza of the time. Inhuman and cold shenanigans between west and east, where methods become so indistinctively cruel that it is no wonder Leamas, played brilliantly by Richard Burton, ceased to see his country or his job as any paragon of freedom or virtue. So it is to the benefit of the story that this jaded spy with a commanding personality eventually gets dragged into a game that will take the rest of the hope he thought he no longer had and throw it into a cell. As a dispassionate hierarchy of spy officials will chew him up and remind him that he is nothing more than a pawn to be sacrificed. It's gorgeously shot and very slowly paced, which adds to the mood of the "coldness" it tries to relay, but the story keeps you engaged as the movie likes to keep secrets as to what some of the scenes even mean, letting you come to your own conclusions before the inevitable reveal. See more Read all reviews

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

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