Black Bag
UNIVERSAL
After Steven Soderbergh’s self-imposed and thankfully short-lived retirement almost a decade ago, the incredibly talented director consistently releases fabulously crafted and entertaining ventures that push the director’s visual, aesthetic and genre to what seems like no bounds. Black Bag is once again an exhilarating and fabulously concocted venture from the dazzling filmmaker who manages to take the style and edge of both Caine’s Harry Palmer and Connery’s Bond and swirls it into a spellbinding, riveting and unbelievably tight ninety minutes.
The first thing to note is that this isn’t Craig’s Bond. It’s not Dalton, Brosnan, Moore or Lazenby. Black Blag feels ripped straight from Ian Fleming in the 21st Century, or Harry Palmer taken from the 1960s Cold War and dropped into Canary Wharf paranoia and espionage of the technological generation. Gone are the marvels of the Swiss Alps, canals of Venice or evil villain lairs and instead in their place are the concrete skyscrapers of deceit and corruption, with the large dining rooms of Hampstead Heath storing more layers of spectacle with thrilling cat and mouse games. Soderbergh switches the conventions of the genre back to basics. Now, gone is the visual external of grandiose spectacular environment or flamboyant sexuality. Bond-ified intoxication of excess is replaced now with the internal. Be that psychological or in terms of setting, in the safety of people’s work or homes.
And just like the thematic and visual assessment of being internal, Black Bag is incredibly inquisitive and intoxicating in unravelling the secrets and boundaries of what its characters are desperately trying to retain within their personal space. Be that of sexual flings, politics in the office, double crossings and espionage with treason. Black Bag, like its characters and screenplay, leaves no stone unturned. It is consistent and continuously invigorating with narrative reveals and events. Slow but surely, Black Bag will show its hand, but does so, like its secretive character counterparts, without ever acknowledging said slips and indulgence. Therefore, reveals don't work as conventional narrative reveals, and the audience, if they're quick or good enough to spot said things, have to work on cues or eventually have the brilliance explained in a magnificent and magnetic final ten minutes that sum up and round out an exhilarating eighty previous minutes.
Soderbergh's skill behind the camera and the performances are the two elements that go hand in hand in making this piece not only so tight but deeply intoxicating. The former is an element that now comes in hand in hand with any new Soderbergh release. Each entry forms something new in genre, aesthetic or creation that sets the project apart from the crowd. Soderbergh’s use of the camera and block is nothing short of fabulous. The camera never patronises or shows off in indulging itself, but compels the weight of the dialogue and performances in being at any time invasive or investigative. And like its narrative and central character, it confidently follows such a thin line between the two, with the audience never quite knowing the rules and if indeed said line is ever crossed in order to get to the truth.
The latter in the aforementioned paragraph is where the performances come into fruition. Soderbergh regulars Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett play the central couple at hand with a rich dynamic of play as well as possible deceit, in which the two craft to perfection. The love and passion they both have is ever so engrossing, which in turn fuels and burns up the possible tragedy that awaits with answers to questions that don't but need to be answered. The supporting cast is equally as thrilling, Tom Burke and Marisa Abela coming off two break out performances of Furiosa and Amy are terrific here in a opposing dynamic and couple with their respective arcs both engaging and entertaining with charisma and charms that allows the viewer to see them as three dimensional beings with both pride stubbornness that causes problems for them both. Bond himself, Pierce Brosnan, and Bond regular Naomie Harris show up with added sprinkles of drama and uncomfortable truths for the cast list to decipher and atone. Regé-Jean Page put on a test reel for Amazon in the potential casting of the new James Bond with great screen presence and sense of style, however, it’s a role that keeps secrets far too close to its chest - due to the nature of the narrative - to see a fully fleshed out and charismatic performance but one that does a great job as the feature nears its climax.
Black Bag is another yearly reminder that Steven Soderbergh is a cinematic genius. A once-in-a-lifetime cinematic chameleon who touches the cinematic form and, after splicing in his sensibility and adoration for the form, reveals a fabulously concocted and crafted piece of cinema. Black Bag is no different in that it takes genre convention and narrative scripture and never makes it boring, but invigorating to watch. The curation of suspense, atmosphere and tension is exquisitely produced in an intoxicating ninety minutes that squeezes its character and audience to find every last detail and lays its cards out without flinching. In a saturated world of the spy and thriller genre, Black Bag is a must watch and one that against the big boys and giants of the genre stands not only tall but firmly further cements Soderbergh as a great.
