Eye of the Needle (1981)

                “Eye of the Needle” is a WWII espionage movie directed by Richard Marquard.  It was based on Ken Follett’s first best-seller.  Much of the movie was filmed on The Isle of Mull off the coast of Scotland.  The cottage and lighthouse were constructed for the film.  It marked the second time Donald Sutherland played a Nazi spy since he starred in “The Eagle Has Landed” five years earlier. 

                The movie opens during the Battle of Britain.  Henry Faber (Donald Sutherland) works at a railway station, but he is actually a German spy known as “the Needle” because of his use of a stiletto blade to dispatch anyone who suspects him.  He is a cool customer and has no compunction in murdering (I mean killing in the name of his country).  The other main character is Lucy (Kate Nelligan).  She is a society gal who is going to live happily ever after with her new RAF fighter pilot husband.  Unfortunately, David (Christopher Cazenove) can’t dodge trucks as well as he dodges Messerschmitts.  The trio’s fates will link up four years later on the aptly named Storm Island – population:  2,000 sheep + 4 humans.  The sheep are happier than Lucy and David.  If Lucy had seen any war movies she would have known married life would be rough with a crippled ex-fighter jock.  They tend to be morose.  In wades the master spy with his photos that will win the war for Germany.  All he needs to do is catch a ride on a u-boat.  Spoiler alert: the Allies still end up winning.

                “Eye of the Needle” is a competent thriller that is set in WWII.  It is more of a spy movie than a war movie.  It could easily have been set in the Cold War, but the plot depends on Faber getting the goods on Operation Fortitude.  Although that code name is not mentioned, the movie does make use of the deception effort that fooled the Germans into thinking Patton was building up an army in southeastern Britain to land at Calais.  Faber discovers that the bombers, etc. are fake. (It would have been awesome if he had taken pictures of men lifting up the blow-up tanks.)  How Faber gets together with Lucy requires the typical coincidences you get in any spy movie, but since it leads to Kate’s breasts I’m willing to overlook the dot connecting.  In fact, it’s best not to overthink the movie.  Like how Faber cannot figure out that Lucy is on to him when their love-making goes from him bedding a Frenchlike Lucy to her reverting back to being British.  In between we get a nifty fight between Faber and David, who manages to channel his bitterness into a moment where you wonder if the movie is going to be much shorter than you expected.  Not to worry, it’s just the preliminary bout before the epic Lucy/Faber showdown in the lighthouse.  The suspense builds well and the big payoff is fine and unpredictable since the movie eschews the  cavalry riding to the rescue trope.

 

                The movie is well acted as a showcase for Sutherland and Nelligan.  Sutherland is menacing as the unflappable Faber.  The movie jumps four years from Faber first murder so we have to wonder what spying he has been doing.  Considering the turn the war took during that stretch, he must not have been padding his resume.    It’s easier to figure out what Lucy has been doing.  She is married to a man who decided to drown his lost ace-hood with sheep raising.  He did take the time to father a cherubic, menace-worthy son.  (Although the movie naughtily suggests he was conceived pre-crash.) Her chilly marriage is supposed to explain why she is seduced by a sociopath.  Hey, when your options had been a drunken lighthouse keeper or a sheep…

                Director Marquard was tabbed by George Lucas to direct “Last of the Jedi” based on this movie.  That is hard to see.  The production is average.  There is no eye-popping cinematography, although the scenery is nice.  The music is meh and has the clicheish swelling romantic strings on queue.  However, the movie is entertaining.  It builds well to the rollicking conclusion, which is satisfactory unless you wanted Germany to win the war.  The twisty ending makes up for the very predictable deaths.  It is certainly not one of the 100 Best War Movies, but it is better than “Foreign Correspondent” and much better than recent attempts at WWII espionage like “Shining Through” and “Allied”.

GRADE  =  B-