Intelligent casting, strong performances and the persuasive chemistry between Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer prove the virtues in director Fred Schepisi's well-intended but problematic screen realization of this John Le Carré espionage thriller. At its best, The Russia House depicts the bittersweet nuances of the pivotal affair between a weary, alcoholic London publisher (Connery) and the mysterious Russian beauty (Pfeiffer) who sends him a fateful manuscript exposing the weaknesses beneath Soviet defence technology. Connery's Barley is a gritty, all-too-human figure who's palpably revived by his awakening feelings for Pfeiffer's wan, vulnerable Katya, whose own reciprocal emotions are equally convincing. Together, they weave a poignant romantic duet.
The problems, meanwhile, emanate from the story line that brings these opposites together. Le Carré's novels are absorbing but typically internal odysseys that seldom offer the level of straightforward action or simple arcs of plot that the big screen thrives on. For The Russia House, written as glasnost eclipsed the cold war's overt rivalries, Le Carré means to measure how old adversaries must calibrate their battle to a more subtle, subdued match of wits. Barley himself becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manuscript because British intelligence chooses to use him as cat's paw rather than become directly involved. Such subtlety may be a more realistic take on the spy games of the recent past but it makes for an often tedious, talky alternative to taut heroics that Connery codified in his most celebrated early espionage role.
If the suspense thus suffers, we're still left with an affecting love story, as well as some convincing sniping between British and US intelligence operatives, beautifully cast with James Fox, Roy Scheider and John Mahoney. Veteran playwright Tom Stoppard brings considerable style to the dialogue, without solving the problem of giving us more than those verbal exchanges to sustain dramatic interest. --Sam Sutherland
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Based on John Le Carres novel When Katya (Pfeiffer), a beautiful Russian book editor, attempts to send British publisher Barley Blair (Connery) a manuscript written by a noted Soviet Scientist, she unwittingly draws them both into a world of international espionage. The manuscript, which contains information which could alter the balance of world power , is intercepted by the West's spy-masters. Who then send Blair to Russia to gain more information on the mysterious document. But when Blair meets Katya, he finds himself... more info
One of the best Le Carre adaptations The Russia House is one of Connery's last really good performances before he realized that they'd still pay him the big bucks even if he was just sleepwalking through a part and refusing to do more than one take. It's also one of the best screen adaptations of a John Le Carre novel, a surprisingly ambitious screenplay by Tom Stoppard that folds chronology, character and plot points in on themselves like origami in the opening and closing scenes making for engaging and occasionally playful viewing. The... more info
Love Before (Other Peoples's) Duty A rare example of a film better than the book on which it was based, or anyway as good. Heavy drinking Barley, the fag end of a minor publishing dynasty, gets "adopted" by a scientist who wants his "eureka" philosophical experience to reach the world, which is impossible because he is a top rocket/missile expert in the dying Gorbachev days of Soviet Russia. So expert uses Barley (Sean Connery) to publish his ideas, using as bait and example some secret facts which, if found out, will mean his death for... more info
A welcome change from overwrought missions impossible When the rusty Iron Curtain disintegrated during Gorbachev's glasnost, Hollywood filmmakers finally got access to the image-rich expanse of Mother Russia for location shoots. Whereas before, when scenes of "Moscow" or "Leningrad" were actually filmed in, say, Helsinki, now American theatergoers can gaze upon the real thing. On viewing THE RUSSIA HOUSE for the first time, I was thrilled to see the onion domes and other architectural glories of Moscow and Suzdal, which I had seen in person several years... more info
![The Russia House [1990]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/413KPWQSPAL._SL160_.jpg)
