Eye of the Needle (1981) – Superb spy thriller

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Genre: Spy Movie

Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Platform: Amazon Prime (rent or subscription)

Director : Richard Marquand

Cast : Donald Sutherland. Kate Nelligan. Christopher Cazenove. Ian Bannen.

 

 

 

It’s the proud boast of British Intelligence that they controlled all the German agents in Britain during WW2. Right from 1940, till the last days in 1945, every ‘German agent” was working for British intelligence. Most of them who were sent to Britain were caught because of their hopeless knowledge of local customs, landscapes , and the nitty- gritty of everyday life.

 

Example. A German agent , who landed by parachute, entered a train station in a remote village, and requested a ticket to London, instantly raising suspicion from the stationmaster. This was because of the absence of direct trains to London and the fact that it was only a ‘branch line’ with a frequency of two trains per day.  Given a choice between death by firing squad , and life, but under British control, some preferred the firing squad, but many chose to live, as ‘agents’ but totally under British control, with fake messages and information being transmitted to Germany. Thus the Double Cross committee was born whose head J.C. Masterman claimed proudly that all German agents were actually ‘turned’ and worked for the British. A unique case is of Spaniard Juan Puhol, also known as Garbo (named after Greta Garbo), who landed in Britain as a ‘German agent’ but immediately surrendered to the British. They were glad to turn him and he played  a vital part in the D-Day deceptions. He received an Iron Cross from his Nazi superiors for his exceptional work as their top agent in Britain. He was also awarded the British MBE, a unique case of one spy receiving both British and German decorations.

 

But what if there was one spy who evaded the British by staying isolated and avoiding involvement with the usual “networks”? What if this spy was under direct control of Berlin and consciously chose to avoid other “German spies in Britain”? What if he stumbled on to THE biggest secret of WW2 – the details of Operation Fortitude designed to fool the Germans into thinking that the Allies will land in Calais and not at any other location?

 

The film works on this “what if” scenario and delivers a cracking thriller about a spy who cracks the secret of Operation Fortitude but as with any spy behind enemy lines, who has vital information, finds it difficult to deliver it to his masters.

 

Faber (Donald Sutherland) code named Needle, is a ‘Belgian’ living in war-torn Britain and in 1940 he is exempted from war service as he is an ‘essential occupation’. His nosy landlady walks into his room to find him transmitting and he swiftly kills her with his stiletto knife which has given him his code name, and then absconds. The police treat it as a ‘routine’ case. Lucy (Kate Nelligan) and her recently married RAF fighter pilot husband David (Christopher Cazenove) are involved in a high-speed car crash that leaves him paralyzed below the waist. To escape the ignominy, of not being a pilot who can fight against the Germans, the bitter David escapes to a remote Scottish island, taking Lucy in tow.

 

In early 1944, Needle is still alive thanks to his habit of reporting only to Berlin directly and staying away from all the regular networks. He is given a new assignment to find out information about the buildup to D-Day. He gets vital information such as the fact that the assembled ‘tanks” and “planes” are wooden and canvas mockups (which was the truth in real life too – see this video on Operation Fortitude about dummy tanks and planes). Chased by the British, he lands up on the remote island where Lucy, David and their four-year-old son are living. Soon things unravel for Lucy who is caught between her husband, her child , her attraction to Faber and her duty to her nation.

 

          Ken Follet had been writing fiction for some time, but his 1978 book catapulted him into the bestseller author category, due to his perfect timing. During the mid 1970s, the details of the Enigma code cracking and other deception measures were gradually disclosed under the ‘thirty year rule’. An astounded world learned of the oh-so-clever British and their intelligence coups, while wondering whether every German was really rounded up. What if that one chap had escaped? It is this premise which Follett built upon, thus sending the book to the bestseller list . Though Ken Follett wrote more historical books,in later years, this is his first spy thriller that has been made into an excellent edge of the seat film. (The late) Donald Sutherland is in great form as the cold Needle who is only interested in his task – get the secrets back to the Germany at any cost, and get rid of anyone who comes in his way.

 

There are some minor goofs, like showing helicopters in Britain when there were none (the first combat use of a helicopter, the Sikorsky R4 Hoverfly was in Burma theater in May 1944) . In fact the chopper shown in the film, the Westland Widgeon, didn’t enter service till the mid 1950s. British Railways weren’t  there in the war years 1939-45,. as nationalization happened in 1949. Except for such silly mistakes, most of the atmosphere and equipment are authentic.

 

Trivia :  Die Nadel, or The Needle, was copy pasted into Hindi as Fanaa (2006). The second half of the film, where Aamir Khan lands up in a remote lodge in Kashmir and what transpires , is a direct copy paste of the scenes where Needle lands on the remote island and meets Lucy and David. 

 

The film is on Amazon Prime

 

 

Real History/ Historical Background – 4 out of 5

Script – 4 out of 5

Story – 5 out of 5

Direction – 5 out of 5

Photography – 4 out of 5

 

Total – 4.4 out of 5