This American thriller tells the story of an intelligence agent, whose wife is suspected of betraying her country. Her husband is forced to face whether he should be loyal to his country, or to the woman he has married, whom he loves.
BLACK BAG. Starring: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, and Pierce Brosnan. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Rated M (mature themes, violence, sexual references and coarse language). 93 min.
Review by Peter W Sheehan, Jesuit Media Australia
George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is married to Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) who he loves deeply. They are both intelligence agents. Kathryn comes under suspicion for betraying her country and both of them are caught up dangerously in what they have been trained to do. George is a renowned Intelligence Officer and has been asked to identify the person who is responsible for a major security breach. He concludes that Kathryn might be responsible. That knowledge challenges his relationship to his wife and he becomes fearful of who she really is. The marriage between the two of them is threatened by not knowing what the other partner is up to, or hiding. Scripting for the film is by David Koepp.
The film cleverly mixes international espionage with marital discord. Kathryn is suspected of compliance with a terrorist threat that could kill thousands of people, and George has been a spy in situations that have in the past led to the slaughter of many people. The film arouses strong tension that is routinely associated with spy activities, and raises probing philosophical questions about the slippery nature of human trust. Blanchett’s handbag, which is not what it seems, intriguingly explains the movie’s chosen title.
The film is a gripping spy drama which pits national loyalty and personal loyalty together, and the movie has two excellent actors in its key roles (Fassbender and Blanchett). It is a dark movie that explores the relationship between two people who are unaware of what the other is doing, and the film attempts to redefine the nature of trust and betrayal in interesting and arresting ways.
This is an action film with thrilling twists, that confronts the complexity of international espionage, and it examines the nature of fit with loyalty and human trust. It explores trust compellingly, and the film succeeds by virtue of quality direction and fine acting.
To this reviewer’s knowledge, this is the first time that Soderbergh, Fassbender, and Blanchett have worked together, and all three have been associated with multiple international-award winning movies in the past; Fassbender and Blanchett have received wide acclaim for their acting, and Soderbergh for his direction – multiple times. Each of them shows the influence of avant-garde cinema, by artistically prioritising “mood” to convey the film’s chief messages.
Peter Sheehan is an Associate of Jesuit Media