While
I’ve never seen this PC project before, I have
seen the story in another adaptation.
Based on a Joseph Conrad novel, The
Secret Agent was made into a movie in 1996, with one of the supporting
roles played by a young Christian Bale.
This work, though, is a miniseries, and IMDb was actually rather
tight-lipped on how many of the episodes PC appears in. It’s only three parts, so I’ll watch the
whole thing, but I can’t say whether or not you’ll see me reviewing any more
installments of it.
The
secret agent in question is Mr. Verloc, a member of an anarchist cell in
Victorian London. Unbeknownst to his
fellow revolutionaries, however, Verloc is an agent provocateur for a foreign embassy. The miniseries kicks off with him getting
dressed down for shirking his duties; the time has come, he is informed, to
act.
This
decree comes from PC’s Mr. Vladimir, one of the higher-ups at the embassy. He feels the British government has grown too
lax in its policing of terrorism, and something explosive (literally) is needed
to shake them out of their complacency.
He’s utterly unimpressed with what he’s seen from Verloc so far, and he
makes it clear that full compliance is required.
Although
his ultimate goal appears to be
combating terrorism, Mr. Vladimir isn’t what you’d call a warm and cuddly
character. Obviously, his methods allow for wide
collateral damage, and he lets Verloc know that his continued safety depends on
this operation’s success. Plus, one
can’t overlook his soul patch o’ evil.
Clearly a man not to be trusted.
Also
appearing in The Secret Agent
(starring in it, in fact) is David Suchet, probably best recognized for playing
the lead in Masterpiece’s Poirot
series. Actually, this miniseries was
made just a couple years after PC guest-starred on Poirot – gotta love the teeny tiny British acting community.
Accent Watch
RP. It’s funny – it doesn’t sound particularly RP (lots of Scottish vowels bleeding through,)
but it seems very RP. Very crisp and clipped.
Recommend?
In
General
– Maybe. It’s a decent yarn, and it’s
interesting to see a story about terrorism that’s so far removed from the
current climate.
PC-wise – I think so. It’s a good performance – PC is fantastically
cold, and does well to seem intimidating against the older, larger Suchet.
Warnings
Thematic
elements, a little sexual content, and talk of seditious activities.
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