loading...
Funeral In Berlin
1967
Following on from THE IPCRESS FILE, Michael Caine returns as bespectacled spy Harry Palmer in the second instalment in the Len Deighton series. A British spy is responsible for arranging the defection of a Russian officer in charge of Berlin war security. When his plan goes very wrong, he must rely on his own Cockney cunning to .. Read more
| Starring | Michael Caine, Hugh Burden, Oscar Homolka, Eva Renzi |
|---|---|
| Director | Guy Hamilton |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
loading...
Funeral In Berlin
Following on from THE IPCRESS FILE, Michael Caine returns as bespectacled spy Harry Palmer in the second instalment in the Len Deighton series. A British spy is responsible for arranging the defection of a Russian officer in charge of Berlin war security. When his plan goes very wrong, he must rely on his own Cockney cunning to escape the morass of double-dealing, intrigue and beautiful, but deadly, women.
| Starring | Michael Caine, Hugh Burden, Oscar Homolka, Eva Renzi, Rachel Gurney, Guy Doleman |
|---|---|
| Director | Guy Hamilton |
| Studio | PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 38 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 01 Jan 2005 Production year: 1967 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (3)
View all -
Following the success of The Ipcress File, Michael Caine returned as Harry Palmer in this dense thriller that is so full of ingenious plotlines that you need to have your wits about you to follow what's going on. Caine travels behind the Iron Curtain to persuade Communist spy boss Oscar Homolka to defect, only to run into Israeli agent Eva Renzi who is tracking down Nazi war criminals. In keeping with Len Deighton's novel, the film blends action with sardonic humour and suspense, and it's all held together by Guy Hamilton's skilful, albeit rather dour, direction.
-
Initially intriguing, finally confusing, always depressing spy yarn in the sixties manner, i.e. with every character devious and no one a hero. Good production.
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
9 out of 13 people found this review helpful
Forget Alfie, this is Michael Caine at his best
Nearly 40 years old and still this movie stands as one of the great spy stories. Gritty and, as far as anyone who isn't a spy can tell, carries an air of authentic realism. This is the grey world of the cold war, set in the shadow of the Berlin Wall and Michael Caine's cockney spy, Harry Palmer is just an ordinary guy with whom we can all identify - except he's a spy and most of us aren't.
Double crosses, twists and turns in the plot and not a Bond gadget in sight. Stunning follow-up to 'The Ipcress File' -
Most recent members' review
View all -
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Customer Review
The Ipcress File was first-class and it was always going to be difficult to make a follow-up which was as good. Funeral in Berlin doesn't come close to the success of the earlier film, for different reasons.
The first thing that struck me was that the soundtrack was way too insistent, almost as if it were trying to set the scene, rather than let the storyline set the scene and complement it by adding to the atmosphere. It didn't work - it was scored for orchestra, and who wants a screeching brass section when they've heard the delicious, moody, low key, jazzy number from Ipcress?
Then there's Palmer: he likes to be a bit of a joker and had some splendidly dry comic lines in Ipcress, but he goes too far here - you'll notice it in the first ten minutes - gags abound and, while they may be mildly amusing (most aren't even that), they do nothing to establish the credibility of the plot or the seriousness of the actors. If you want humour, go for Pierce Brosnan in James Bond (I saw Die Another Day recently and it was full of crap jokes and innuendo. I never realised how bad an actor Brosnan was until I saw it again.) or Sid James in a Carry On film.
The plot was okay but I thought it a bit muddled, with too many things going on, so it lacked the direct simplicity of the earlier film. There are agents from Russia/East Germany, West Germany, GB and Israel all vying with one another. Hmmm! Too much.
On a positive note, the picture quality is sharp and the colours very strong, and you get a chance to see Palmer being pulled by a gorgeous bird and Guy Doleman doing his suave bit as Palmer's unflappable boss with a superb accent and a great line in withering put-downs. The grittiness of this film is Berlin in the mid-sixties - how run-down and seedy it all looked, but this was only twenty years after the war and regeneration was still proceeding.
It's good enough for an evening's entertainment, but a disappointing sequel for Palmer. -
News and features
View all
Caine keen to bring agent Palmer back
- 14 Sep 2009
Movie veteran Michael Caine is looking to bring back his most famous character for one last hurrah. The actor played spy Harry Palmer in three movies in the mid 1960s - The Ipcress File, Funeral In Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain - and he's keen to bring the bespectacled Cold War superagent back to life one more time. He tells WENN, "I have a script called Cold War Requiem, which is Harry retired and he's living out his fantasy in some middle class area in London and the guys who he screwed... Read more
-
More like this
View all
Related user collection
81.8% from 38 members
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
-
-
-
Funeral In Berlin
Following on from THE IPCRESS FILE, Michael Caine returns as bespectacled spy Harry Palmer in the second instalment in the Len Deighton series. A British spy is responsible for arranging the defection of a Russian officer in charge of Berlin war security. When his plan goes very wrong, he must rely ...
-