‘Black Bag’ – Review
Noted filmmaker Steven Soderbergh takes audiences into the murky arena of covert black operations, where there is no line between trust and lies in Black Bag, and this is an intellectually tense thriller that packs in the tension at every moment.
When his wife, intelligence agent Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), is suspected of committing treason, her husband, intelligence agent George Woodhouse is assigned to investigate her. He faces the ultimate test – faithfulness to his marriage or loyalty to his country.
Academy Award-winner Steven Soderbergh is a director who is completely in control of his craft and has mastered every genre throughout his eclectic career. Now he turns his attention to a taut and tightly confined spy thriller, which he constructs with the help of screenwriting genius David Koepp in Black Bag, and this picture dials up your nerves and will have you holding on for dear life with its claustrophobic tension and twisted psychology. Set over the course of a week where trusted and observant intelligence analyst George Woodhouse (Fassbender) learns of a would-be traitor in British intelligence and is given five suspects who include programmers Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela) and Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), psychologist Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) and field operative Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page), and his wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett).
With limited information and a ticking clock, George gathers his suspects, setting the stage for a game of lies and deception. However, it’s not what you might expect. This isn’t a film filled with flashing explosions or high-paced action sequences. Instead, we are presented with a thought-provoking spy thriller where multiple chess games unfold among the characters, each driven by their own motives and agendas. The story is rich in twists and turns that keep the audience engaged.
As a cinematic experience, Black Bag is a pure spy thriller, but not as you know it, as its slick narrative moves across the interconnected personal lives of its central characters, and the plot is driven by the growing complexities of their interactions and minute by minute you’re kept guessing. Where national security and tradecraft secrets come down to confidentiality, discretion, and secrets, Black Bag completely blurs the line as all of allegiance to King and Country strays when mixed in with complex personal feelings, and it all adds to the nail-biting tension of the plot. Koep’s screenplay is savagely sharp, and Soderberg’s direction pulls on many cues of Hitchcokian misdirection that keeps the audience guessing, and a major plot turn in the middle of the narrative, driven in part by George’s obsessive actions throws the plot on its head and ramps up the tension even further.
Black Bag is an impeccably stylized film as well, with its camera work, set design and costuming all playing a vital role in drawing the audience in with a screen factor that is slick, stylish and sexy. The cast is dressed in some of the best wardrobe we’ve seen in recent years in film. Michael Fassbender looks the part of a refined gentleman spy in his grey suits and black turtlenecks, while Cate Blanchett exudes raw feminine strength and sexuality with her flowing gowns and crisp trenchcoats. Then there’s Pierce Brosnan as station chief Arthur Stieglitz, who, in his double-breasted suits, is the perfect example of British upper-class arrogance. The mood of the piece is also highlighted by Soderbergh’s crisp cinematography, which displays an effortlessly cool frame. Black Bag is imbued with an immense sensuality that enhances its erotic overtones, making it a very sexy watch and adding to Soderbergh’s tension-building techniques.
While Michael Fassbender had taken a recent pause in the last few years to focus on his passion for auto-racing, his return to the big screen has seen some excellent turns, particularly in the likes of David Fincher’s The Killer, and he gives a knockout performance here in Black Bag. Refined, detailed, and intensely private here as cunning intelligence operative George Woodhouse, Fassbender seems to appear to be a character that exists in the grey space between hero and villain, and there’s something edgy, possibly off, and potentially sociopathic about George, which is subtle in its presentation, is still felt by the audience. With an ability to see through others’ lies, he’s also an adept manipulator, and his prying mind sees him utilizing any advantage that he can find, making him utterly dangerous in the most strategic use of the word. Fassbender’s unflinching performance will leave you unhinged, and he’s never been better in a role.
Playing off of Fassbender is Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett as the mysterious, alluring, dynamic intelligence operative Kathryn St. Jean. Like her husband, Kathryn is the best at what she does, but a rogue element leads George to doubt her, and that’s where the ferocity builds in the plot. Blanchett plays Kathryn as distinctly two-faced, both exceedingly loyal to her husband and hiding something from him for an unknown reason. The mystery only grows as the narrative moves forward, and what is not shown adds to the vehemence of the picture. Blanchett and Fassbender’s chemistry together is superb, but not in the way you’d likely think of, and Black Bag’s twisting narrative shapes the complexity of their relationship, and they’re one very memorable couple for sure.
In espionage, black bag operations routinely relate to clandestine entries or surveillance operations, and Soderbergh and Koep lean into these actions in a physical and thematic sense. This chiefly relates to George’s actions, as he has a talent for intrusive behaviour and can seemingly intertwine himself with the secrets his colleagues, who he now suspects of foul play, would rather keep to themselves. The film’s subject matter related to observation and surveillance also leads to an exploration of the ideas related to voyeurism, and even though it is presented subtly, George’s obtrusive actions will leave audiences unsettled, which makes his character that much more intriguing, as he’s willing to go to extremes to complete his mission, which minute by minute becomes that much more personal in its action.
Issues of trust, loyalty, and deceit all play into the thematic underscore of Black Bag, with the key question being about how far one is willing to go to truly ‘trust’ the person they love. This theme is played directly both in George’s relationship with Kathryn, but also with other core characters who are under George’s suspicion, and moment by moment, you have to check where your own doubts are as an audience member, and the result will have you hanging on for dear life.
Black Bag is a flawlessly crafted spy thriller with its’ chessboard narrative of twists and deceptions, and it makes for one of the most stylish, cool, and intensely taut cinematic experiences of the year.
Imager: Universal Pictures
