Soderbergh’s sleek spy thriller pairs Fassbender & Blanchett in a high-stakes mystery where trust is the deadliest game. Stylish and sharp.
Combining the elements of a spy thriller with a classical murder mystery, Black Bag offers an intelligent and mature story for fans of the genre awaiting a fresh take. It’s a tight, fast-paced little gem that can be savoured in repeat viewings paired with a home-cooked dinner and fine wine, not unlike the one George (Michael Fassbender) organises for his colleagues to fish out the traitor.
On Friday, George received a list of suspects, which includes his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett, playing a ‘bad bitch’ as referred to by one of the characters in the film), and has 1 week to complete the mission. That’s not much time, but George seems cool like an ice cube. The reason being that he trusts his wife. But should he?
As a character from the movie says, ‘How do you trust someone when you know they can lie about anything?’. As a spy, deception is part of the job, especially deceiving people who trust you. As both of them work in different departments, George and Kathryn have a way to deal with clearance-related complications — they put what can’t be shared with the other in an imaginary black bag. This kind of mutual understanding is unheard of in the institution of marriage, which has existed for centuries.
Where most spy-thrillers have globe-trotting action, Black Bag is restricted to characters working in an office. As George Smiley, this George uncovers the truth, but he does it in the style of Hercule Poirot. And as is the case in any office, this one is full of secrets, back-stabbing and envy. There are office romances too, like the typical one between Tom Burke’s older man Freddie Smalls and Marisa Abela’s younger woman Clarissa Dubose, or the atypical Rege-Jean Page’s younger man James Stokes and Naomie Harris’s older woman Dr. Zoe Vaughn.
Fassbender once again plays a neat, meticulous man who ordinarily doesn’t let his emotions show. While the role falls under his domain, where we have seen him more recently in The Killer, the physicality Fassbender has adapted is different. Blanchett brings her class and grace to the role of Kathryn, who is just as unemotional as George on the surface, if not more.
With the two leads keeping their cards close to their chest, it allows the other actors to play more freely. While the actors are pretending, so are the characters. David Koepp’s dialogue is entertaining, but furthermore, the action neatly ties together by the end. The script comes alive in the most captivating manner in the two dinner scenes, where the secrets take centre stage. That’s good drama!
Steven Soderbergh has had a career spanning 4 decades, working independently as he did in Sex, Lies and Videotape or big budget films like his Ocean’s trilogy. When it comes to medium-sized projects, there is rarely another modern director who offers entertaining genre films with his consistency.
Black Bag features peak Soderbergh cinematography, as the slickness that goes along with spy-thrillers is pronounced. The lighting is heightened during the exciting sequences, adding to the chic look of the film. In Black Bag, good-looking actors are stylishly dressed, chewing on meaty dialogue, playing mysterious characters, and providing 93 minutes of unadulterated fun.
Kathryn – ‘I would have thought you’d start with polygraphs.’
George – ‘I wanted to try something more elegant first.’
Kathryn – ‘What’s on the menu?’
George – ‘Fun and games.’
Kathryn – ‘Will it be a mess to clean up?’
George – ‘With any luck.’