Funeral in Berlin (1966)

I picked up this movie from one of the remote corners of the DVD shop. What attracted me was the picture of Caine stooping against a wall. Even after buying it, I kept the box unopened in my table for a couple of weeks. Suddenlt, yesterday it was raining, and I decided to see it. I was blown away! From the first escape sequence, I was taken back to the days of the cold war, to the rivalry, the brutal undercover violence, and all in the backdrop of post WWII Europe. The scenes are so good, the dialogs perfect. Caine is sublime as the British agent. The surprises in the movie have been delivered with an artists's touch. I wonder why we no longer make movies like this. A wonder too, how they were able to make movies like this without all the gadgets and technology that we have today. Maybe because they didn't, they could. It is a very enjoyable movie, almost making you wish the cold war wasn't over. . . .

Fmovies: Funeral in Berlin, in my view, remains the best of the 3 Harry palmer films. Dispensing with the mandatory 60's 'brainwashing'and over-played 'spy' sequences of the Ipcress file. Funeral in Berlin benefits greatly from being shot on location, adding to the authenticity and nervy cold war tension of the original novel. (Actually at least 2 other sub-plots are ditched to save on running time & viewer brain fatigue)The plot, although condensed, remains coherent and totally logical. For anyone wanting explosions, car chases and all the other dreary staples of the 'spy thriller' - forget it. Harry Palmer travels to see his boss on a bus and only receives a gun (at his request) over half way through the film! Watch it for atmosphere, razor-sharp dialogue and a great in-joke regarding Lownbrau beer... Michael Caine is at his world-weary best and supported by a fine cast, all adding to arguably the most 'authentic' spy film of the 60's. as for Billion dollar brain- Have you ever seen it? Listen to the theme tune & turn off!!

Reluctant spy and disgraced army sergeant Harry Palmer gets sent to Berlin to encounter a Russian general that says he wants to defect - but does he?

The success (and continued success) of the Ipcress Files lead to this very solid and very good (if complicated) follow-up which seems Palmer (Michael Caine in his too-cool-for-school best form) back in a cheap raincoat and dowdy clothes on a mission that he seems sure he is going to regret. Indeed he makes clear that only being on probation (still?) causes him to go on it in the first place.

The use of the real Berlin and the performance of Caine and Oskar Homolka (as Colonel Stok) keeps this film going as the plot is rather too thick for my liking.

I am not someone that wants to do this much thinking with my fluff - but I caught most of it or at least the main parts. Couldn't be sure totally who the lesser characters were in bed with though or even if it was not each other.

When the series returned with The Billion Dollar Brain it had got past its sell-by date and seemed to almost parody what had gone before. Like all things it has hard to judge when you have gone too far before you actually have.

As a footnote Howard Hughes used to watch this film over-and-over again (as many as three times a day) when locked in his own self-made lunatic asylum. Did the film drive him mad or help drive him mad. We will never know.

Funeral in Berlin fmovies. Though arguably not as cohesive as The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin still stands head and shoulders above the average 60s spy movie. The pacing could be tighter, the adaptation of Deighton's exemplary novel - one of his best - could be a little more fluid but generally the thing works well.

For fans of the novels this is perhaps the most interesting of the three movies. Ipcress is a fascinating spin on the its novel's central theme, Brain is an awful adaptation of a lack-lustre book but Funeral in Berlin sticks to the original story pretty firmly until it turns on you with a very groovy twist indeed.

Funeral in Berlin is to my mind the best spy-agent film of its kind! The film is even more appreciated if you have visited or lived in Berlin prior to 1989. I lived in West Berlin through most of 1967 and often went through Checkpoint Charlie to visit various parts of East Berlin. There was a tremendous atmosphere in West Berlin, a special buzz, an excitement, probably due to the Allied sectors being well inside the Soviet zone.

Crossing the white line at Charlie for the first time was rather daunting. Border guards would train their binoculars on you and the reception received from the Vopos who were in charge of passport admin was cold.

Watching Funeral in Berlin takes me back to 1967, I notice Kranzlers café on the Ku'damm where I often took coffee, the Bristol Kempinski Hotel off the Ku'damm where I lived for 3 months, the Europa Centre next to the Kaiser Willhelm Memorial Church, and of course the Mercedes insignia.

If you want to know more about the Berlin Wall read the excellent Christopher Hilton book The Wall: THe Peoples Story.

I personally think that Funeral In Berlin is a great film and far better than the previous Ipcress File which generally gets the credit as the best of Len Deighton's Harry Palmer novels to make it to the big screen. Caine is excellent as the stiff but smart east end spy. The underlying suggestion that Palmer possesses the superior intellect to his privately educated 'superiors' gives the scenes for example between Palmer and Ross the added edge of annoyance on the part of Ross and frustration and arrogance born of frustration from Palmer. The hard edged 'real life'(compared to Bond) atmosphere give the film it's sense of believability through all of it's complex plot turns. The camera work is excellent with some beautifully framed scenes that have thus far not received the credit they deserve. Homolka as Stock is a particularly excellent characterisation and the whole affect of cameras and the first appearance of Stock remind me greatly of Welles introduction as Harry Lime. The whole film is very much of it's time but as such has not lost any of it's fascination. Definitely one of my favourites.