Film Review: The Tailor of Panama

AN EXOTIC city, a thick plot that unfolds like a meandering river, a suave but ruthless spy, and a good man with a nasty past - throw in a bit of political arm-twisting and you have a film from Columbia Pictures - ``The Tailor of Panama.''

Espionage has been fodder for many Hollywood films some rather gripping. The Bond films are racy with the invincible, rakish James Bond, and even if you have to put realism on hold they are interesting to watch. The one however, adapted from John le Carre spy novel and with screenplay by Andrew Davies, le Carre and Boorman, is a blend of black comedy and thriller.

Unhurried the film has plenty of time to show you the city of Panama, give you a bit of history about the Panama Canal, the power struggle to maintain invisible control over it, and the tailor who is famous for his suits as he is for his story telling. The twist comes when one of his tales lands him in a situation setting off a chain of events threatening Panama and everything he values in life.

Pierce Brosnan plays the British spy Andy Osnard who has been banished to Panama but who is determined to make it worth his while. This he does by picking on Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush) an ex-con who has reinvented himself as a popular tailor to the rich and the powerful of the country. How one of his tales spins out of control is what this film is about. Set in Panama (camera by Philippe Rousselot) glimpses of the city could whet one's appetite for travel.

Director John Boorman laces his creation on celluloid with humour but keeps the mood of intrigue and unspoken terror going right through. It is quite another thing that it takes its own time to unfold. If it is a fast spy thriller one is looking for this perhaps may not be the one. But it is something that draws our attention to the possible mechanisations and manipulations that go on at high political levels. Also in the cast are Jamie Lee Curtis, Chilean born Leonor Varela and David Hayman. Harold Pinter (one of Britain's leading playwrights) makes a rare appearance on screen.

CHITRA MAHESH

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Section  : Entertainment
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