Ah, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. Such a good movie. It’s a spy spoof, right? I came into the movie thinking it would be like that other spy-spoof series, Austin Powers. I am glad to say I was totally and entirely wrong. OSS 117 is no Austin Powers, thank God.
Yeah, when I was thirteen, I thought Austin Powers was funny (fuck you, you did too). It had boob jokes. It had strange looking people with ridiculous accents. It had catch phrases. It was also totally heartless, a movie devoid of soul, populated by freaks and plastic people; a soporific to make you forget your shitty life for two hours, but giving no hope for anything better.
OSS 117, on the other hand, is a real movie; a movie that reminds you that making movies is an art and a craft, and has a history worth more than as a repository of cheap cultural references. It is a movie for people who love movies, and think that film-watching is a worthwhile use of one’s time. It’s also very funny. No one says, “Yeah, baby!” and it is a better movie for it.
Unlike that other spy-spoof, OSS 117 is a self-contained film. There are no sight-gag moments that do not fit the storyline. The double entendres are actual double entendres, rather than lewd catchphrases said with a wacky accent. And jokes build upon one another. Example: OSS 117 (played with a near perfect mix of blithe charm, elegance, and idiocy by the perfectly Gallic Jean Dujardin) is tailed at the beginning of the movie by a sinister looking fellow wearing a fez (by the way, what purpose does the fez have? Why do people wear it, aside from its inherent awesomeness?) who rushes off to the nearest phone booth to inform some shadowy figure at the other end of the line of OSS 117’s movements. It’s not a funny scene on its own; it happens all the time in spy flicks. What makes it funny is that virtually the same scene is repeated in pretty much every location OSS 117 goes to. It is repeated. And repeated. And repeated. Simple repetition, but by the end of the film, I was chuckling in anticipation as soon as I saw the fez guy.
Now, let’s talk about the look. The movie looks just right. It’s a little faded, and the colors don't seem quite natural. It looks like a spy movie from the 50’s. It is not shiny, it does not seem new, it feels like some lost piece of cinema recently excavated. I’m not sure how they did it, but damn, I’m really glad they did it. There was one chase scene through the back alleys of Cairo in particular that looked just right. It was filtered dark blue, so the scene looked like “night-time”, but that certain shade of “night time” that only exists in early color films. Likewise, the costuming fit the film perfectly. The clothes were appropriate for the type of film it was. There was nothing that screamed “costume”.
Final thought? Hells yes, see the movie. Twelve stars!
It's been a little while since I've seen this film, but I remember falling out of my seat laughing at this movie (much to Rachel's embarrassment) at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland. The parts I remember that we're funny: learning to count to five in Arabic, the chickens and the light, the Nazi flag, playing the guitar, the girl on girl fight at the end, and so many more moments that make this movie an instant classic. I think you got to the heart of what makes it a good film. It's not a spoof, it's a movie.
ReplyDeleteExactly! I loved the chickens gag too!
ReplyDeleteAlso, people laughing. It makes scenes funny, fi done correctly.