PHENOMENALITY: (1) *uncanny,* (2) *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *sociological*
All of the Eurospy movies I've come across seem like the writers cobbled them together after watching the first four James Bond films. PASSPORT TO HELL-- which like its sequel is preceded by the spy's code name "Agent 3S3"-- had some of the real-world political content one finds in the more realistic Ian Fleming tomes. Perhaps unfairly, I tend to give the lion's share of credit to director/co-writer Sergio Sollima, who prior to his two spy flicks had written 1961's URSUS, one of the few "sword-and-sandal" movies with some good character progression. In addition, Sollima later went on to direct a couple of well-respected spaghetti westerns.
George Ardisson, who plays superspy Walter Ross in both PASSPORT and its one sequel, would also gain considerable fame as a star of Euro-westerns. but here he pulls off the difficult task of emulating the movie version of James Bond without lapsing into parody. Though Ardisson like Connery gets into assorted bizarre situations, he always seems like a guy grounded in the profession of busting heads and seducing babes for a living. At the opening, Ross's superiors tell him to locate the daughter of a spy-chief, and that he should "blackmail, torture, maybe even marry" the woman in order to get what they need.
More importantly, the spy-ring Ross is chasing was once of immense help to the side of The Allies in WWII, but has "gone rogue" now, so that the good spies need to find its mastermind, Dvorak, even if it means placing his daughter Irmgard in danger.
To be sure, PASSPORT is only a middling thriller, punctuated by a few toughguy fights but without a solid villain to push against. The only diabolical device in the film is that one of the females in Dvorak's organization makes use of a compact that can stun a victim with projected needles.
The follow-up, MASSACRE IN THE SUN, eschews even minor references to real-world politics, but it still projects a better feeling of overall "toughness" even in its fantastic situation. Both Walter Ross and a Brit agent (Evi Marandi) are separately sent to the small South American country San Felipe, where a dictator has overthrown the former rulers. But neither agent is concerned with the dictator, but rather with a mad scientist to whom the dictator has given shelter. Seems the scientist specializes in making lethal chemical gas, and in due time Ross learns that he intends to use a missile to indiscriminately unleash his weapon on the world.
On the slightly more mundane side, the dictator shows himself both a Hefer-esque player and a fighter for equal rights, for one division of his private army is all female. I didn't catch the name of the brunette leader of the female soldiers-- played I think by one Luz Marquez-- but Sollima's script gives her a lot to d. She chastises a disrespectful male soldier by challenging him to single combat, and beats him down using only a bo-staff. She tries the same thing on Ross, who not only overpowers her but spanks her-- which, quite naturally, leads to consensual sex. Finally, the blonde Brit agent and the brunette girl soldier have a short but brutal catfight near the film's end.
Ross doesn't use many gadgets in either film. However, near the conclusion of MASSACRE he does wear night-vision goggles that allow him to mow down several opposition soldiers. This battle-scene displays much of the hallmark grittiness of the spaghetti westerns, rather than the polished violence of most superspy films.
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