Three Days of the Condor

Genre: political thriller
Director: Sydney Pollack
Release: 1975
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.6/10


I Really Thought This Was A Desk Job


When Joe Turner (Robert Redford) returns to his office at the American Literary Historical Society after a routine errand, he discovers that all of his co-workers have been murdered. What should he do? Why did this happen? Joe needs answers and, to get them, he will turn to his superiors… at the CIA. With Faye Dunaway (Katherine ‘Kathy’ Hale), Cliff Robertson (Higgins), John Houseman (Wabash) and Max von Sydow (Joubert).

The years 1973 to 1975 were especially agitated in the United States. The last months of a wasteful war in Vietnam (remember the slogan ‘Peace with honour’?), an economy choked off by stagflation, the culmination of the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon’s resignation… these events and others deeply worried Americans, sparked acrimonious debate and caused much soul-searching in the Republic. It is often said that times like these nurture great art and Hollywood did react to the chaos ambient with excellent and thought-provoking works, among them THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, an intelligent movie unafraid of tackling big issues. It begins innocuously enough with everyday scenes and a poppy jazz theme by Dave Grusin but suddenly turns dangerous, even desperate, when Joe finds himself stranded in a new, sinister world. To get his bearings and, more urgently, to survive from day to day, he will need to connect the dots and summon up his resources which are, fortunately for him, abundant and varied.

Guided by James Grady’s novel and a taut screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel, Sydney Pollack has fashioned a magnificent political thriller here, a work of limited scope that also carries, as if by paradox, implications for our whole planet. Rarely will you see a game of hide-and-seek so chilling, so important and so tightly rendered. Of course, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR wouldn’t be as hard-hitting without its stellar cast led by Robert Redford who delivers one of his best roles ever. Equally unforgettable are Faye Dunaway and Cliff Robertson, along with Max von Sydow, the great Swedish actor. Production values, notably cinematography, are beyond reproach.

I have no doubt that THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR will keep you on tenterhooks for the duration but, at the risk of being too insistent, I urge you to pay special attention to its last ten minutes. Right then and there, you will hear the most implacable tenets of modern geopolitics stated with unusual bluntness… and they are very damning for our Western way of life. If only for these pungent remarks on the conduct of world affairs, Pollack’s film ranks as one of the finest in its genre.


MBiS

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