The Russia House (film)
Encyclopedia
The Russia House is an American
spy drama
, based on the novel of the same name
by John le Carré
. It was directed by Fred Schepisi, and starred Sean Connery
and Michelle Pfeiffer
, with Roy Scheider
, James Fox
, John Mahoney
, and Klaus Maria Brandauer
in supporting roles.
It was filmed on location in the Soviet Union
, only the second American motion picture to do so before the dissolution of the socialist state
(the first being the 1988 film Red Heat
).
), the head of a British publishing firm, is on a business trip to Moscow
. He attends a writers' retreat where he speaks of an inevitable New World Order on its way and an end to tension with the West. Attentively listening is a man called Dante (Klaus Maria Brandauer
), who wants to be convinced that Barley means what he says. It transpires that Dante has secretly written a book about the Soviet Union
's true nuclear missile capabilities.
A few months later, unable to locate Barley at a sales fair, a Russian
woman named Katya Orlova (Michelle Pfeiffer
) asks another publishing company's representative, Niki Landau (Nicholas Woodeson
), to pass along a very important manuscript. Niki sneaks a look at the book and delivers it to British government authorities instead.
British intelligence agents and American CIA
agents track Barley to his holiday flat in Lisbon, then interrogate him to see how he knows Katya. They realize he is as much in the dark as they are, so Ned (James Fox
), gives him some fundamental training as a spy. The British MI6 agents realize that the manuscript is of vital importance to the USA, so they start working with the CIA, with both agencies wanting Barley to work on their behalf.
Barley returns to the USSR to seek out Dante and confirm that he is genuine. He meets with Katya, with whom he is instantly smitten. Through her, he confirms that Dante is a brilliant scientist whose actual name is Yakov. He also denies to Katya's face that he is a spy.
At the first phase, the British run the operation, while informing the CIA on its results. The CIA team in the United States
, headed by Russell (Roy Scheider
), is concerned because the book states that the Soviet nuclear missile program is in very bad shape, and therefore there's no real reason for an arms race to continue.
Katya sets up a face-to-face meeting with "Dante," going to great lengths to avoid being followed. Barley explains that the sensitive manuscript is now in the hands of British and American authorities. Yakov feels betrayed, but Barley convinces him that the book can still be published, which was the author's objective in the first place.
Dante is clearly disappointed by Barley's trust of the authorities, explaining that government people (of whatever country) are only driven by their own interests, not caring about simple people. Nevertheless, Dante gives Barley another volume to the manuscript after Barley assures him that he's sympathetic to the cause.
Impressed by the additional volume, Russell's boss Brady (John Mahoney
) and a U.S. military officer named Quinn (J.T. Walsh) personally question Barley, wanting to be certain where his loyalties lie. Russell then travels to London
to monitor Barley's progress. He declares that he would help the British operation out of a true ideological belief in Glasnost, although this would not be good news to his "customers" of the weapons industry, who need an arms race for continued prosperity.
Convinced that Dante's manuscripts are truthful, the CIA and MI6 come up with a list of questions (a so-called "shopping list"), which is meant to extract as much information of the USSR as Dante could provide. On that point, irregularities begin to emerge, but the joint British-American team rationalizes them, except for Barley's "Russia House" handler Ned, who senses something amiss.
Barley, by now fully in love with Katya, wants to keep nothing from her; he admits that he is spying. Katya, in return, confirms that Yakov is not acting like himself, fearing that he may be under KGB
observation or control. She gives Barley the address where Yakov will be staying when he is in Moscow.
Barley is under full British-American surveillance as he takes the shopping list to Yakov's apartment. Ned suddenly concludes that the Soviets know all about the operation and that they only let it run because they want to put their hands on the list. He realizes that if they get the questions, they will know exactly what the British and Americans know - just based on what they were asking.
Ned is now convinced that Barley has made a deal to turn over the questions to the USSR. Russell disagrees with Ned completely and instructs the assignment to proceed as planned. The British-American team expects the meeting with Yakov to last 2-3 hours, but when Barley doesn't return after 7 hours, Russell must admit that he was wrong. They must now do damage control, pretending that the questions were deliberately false.
Barley, meanwhile, has left a note for Ned. He explains that during a prearranged phone call to Katya, he used a code word to let her know that Yakov has been captured or is dead, and that her life is also in danger. Barley has traded the shopping list to the Russians in exchange for the freedom of Katya's family. He admits to the British and Americans that it might be unfair, but as he writes to Ned: "You shouldn't open other people's letters."
Barley returns to his flat in Lisbon
, where he waits for a ship to dock that brings Katya and her family to begin a new life with him.
and St. Petersburg, Russia
, the first major American production to be filmed substantially in the Soviet Union
. The final scenes were filmed on location in Lisbon
, Portugal
.
. The score featured a unique mixture of Russian music
and jazz
to complement the nationalities and characteristics of the two main characters. The soundtrack was released 11 December 1990 through MCA Records
and features seventeen tracks of score at a running time just over sixty-one minutes.
, indicating a generally positive critical reception.
Hal Hinson in the Washington Post wrote: "Making a picture about the political situation in a country as much in flux as the Soviet Union
can be disastrous, but the post-glasnost
realities here seem plausible and up to the minute. The Russia House doesn't sweep you off your feet; it works more insidiously than that, flying in under your radar. If it is like any of its characters, it's like Katya. It's reserved, careful to declare itself but full of potent surprises. It's one of the year's best films." Peter Travers
in Rolling Stone
wrote: "At its best, The Russia House offers a rare and enthralling spectacle: the resurrection of buried hopes." Time Out less enthusiastically wrote: "Overtaken by East-West events, and with an over-optimistic ending which sets personal against political loyalty, it's still highly enjoyable, wittily written, and beautiful to behold in places, at others somehow too glossy for its own good."
Tom Stoppard
's adapted screenplay was criticised by Vincent Canby
in the New York Times: "There is evidence of Mr. Stoppard's wit in the dialogue, but the lines are not easily spoken, which is not to say that they are unspeakable. They are clumsy." Roger Ebert
held a similar view in the Chicago Sun-Times
: "What's good are the few emotional moments that break out of the weary spy formula: Connery declaring his love for Pfeiffer, or the British and Americans getting on each other's nerves. But these flashes of energy are isolated inside a screenplay that is static and boring, that drones on lifelessly through the le Carré universe, like some kind of space probe that continues to send back random information long after its mission has been accomplished."
Sean Connery
was praised for his portrayal of Barley, "bluff, incorrigible, jazz-loving... his finest performance in ages." Variety
wrote: "As the flawed, unreliable publisher, Connery is in top form." Peter Travers in Rolling Stone
thought he captured "the 'splendid quiet' that le Carré found in Blair." Hal Hinson in the Washington Post wrote: "This may be the most complex character Connery has ever played, and without question it's one of his richest performances. Connery shows the melancholy behind Barley's pickled charm, all the wasted years and unkept promises." Desson Howe, also in the Washington Post, wrote: "Sean Connery, like Anthony Quinn
, takes a role like a vitamin pill, downs it, then goes about his bighearted business of making the part his idiosyncratic own." However, he received criticism from the New York Times, who thought that the "usually magnetic Mr. Connery... is at odds with Barley, a glib, lazy sort of man who discovers himself during this adventure. Mr. Connery goes through the movie as if driving in second gear."
Michelle Pfeiffer
also garnered critical plaudits for delivering "the film's most persuasive performance... Miss Pfeiffer, sporting a credible Russian accent, brings to it a no-nonsense urgency that is missing from the rest of the movie," according to the New York Times. Desson Howe in the Washington Post wrote: "As Katya, a mother who risks her love to smuggle a document and falls for a Westerner in the process, her gestures are entirely believable, her accent (at least to one set of Western ears) is quietly perfect." Peter Travers in Rolling Stone
wrote that "Pfeiffer, who gets more subtle and incisive with each film, is incandescent as Katya." Hal Hinson in the Washington Post congratulated her for portraying a rounded character: "Her triumph goes beyond her facility with the Russian accent; other actresses could have done that. She's great at playing contradictions, at being tough yet yielding, cloaked yet open, direct yet oblique. What's she's playing, we suspect, is the great Russian game of hide-and-seek. But Pfeiffer gives it a personal dimension. Katya holds herself in check, but her wariness, one senses, is as much personal as it is cultural -- the result, perhaps, of her own secret wounds. It's one of the year's most full-blooded performances." However, Pfeiffer also had her detractors. Variety
thought that her "Russian accent proves very believable but she has limited notes to play." Time Out wrote that "Pfeiffer can act, but her assumption of a role for which her pouty glamour is inappropriate - a Russian office-worker seen rubbing shoulders in the bus queues - is a jarring note."
at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival
.
Michelle Pfeiffer
was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
, but lost to Kathy Bates
in Misery
(1990).
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
spy drama
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...
, based on the novel of the same name
The Russia House
The Russia House is a novel by John le Carré published in 1989. The title refers to the nickname given to the portion of the British Secret Intelligence Service that was devoted to spying on the Soviet Union. A film based on the novel was released in 1990, starring Sean Connery and Michelle...
by John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
. It was directed by Fred Schepisi, and starred Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
and Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
, with Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
, James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
, John Mahoney
John Mahoney
John Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...
, and Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer is an Austrian actor, film director, and professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna.-Personal life:...
in supporting roles.
It was filmed on location in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, only the second American motion picture to do so before the dissolution of the socialist state
Socialist state
A socialist state generally refers to any state constitutionally dedicated to the construction of a socialist society. It is closely related to the political strategy of "state socialism", a set of ideologies and policies that believe a socialist economy can be established through government...
(the first being the 1988 film Red Heat
Red Heat
Red Heat is a 1988 buddy cop film directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Moscow narc Ivan Danko, and James Belushi, as Chicago detective Art Ridžić...
).
Plot
Bartholomew "Barley" Scott Blair (Sean ConnerySean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
), the head of a British publishing firm, is on a business trip to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He attends a writers' retreat where he speaks of an inevitable New World Order on its way and an end to tension with the West. Attentively listening is a man called Dante (Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer is an Austrian actor, film director, and professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna.-Personal life:...
), who wants to be convinced that Barley means what he says. It transpires that Dante has secretly written a book about the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's true nuclear missile capabilities.
A few months later, unable to locate Barley at a sales fair, a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
woman named Katya Orlova (Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
) asks another publishing company's representative, Niki Landau (Nicholas Woodeson
Nicholas Woodeson
Nicholas Woodeson is an English film and television actor.-Education:Woodeson attended Marlborough College and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Film:...
), to pass along a very important manuscript. Niki sneaks a look at the book and delivers it to British government authorities instead.
British intelligence agents and American CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agents track Barley to his holiday flat in Lisbon, then interrogate him to see how he knows Katya. They realize he is as much in the dark as they are, so Ned (James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
), gives him some fundamental training as a spy. The British MI6 agents realize that the manuscript is of vital importance to the USA, so they start working with the CIA, with both agencies wanting Barley to work on their behalf.
Barley returns to the USSR to seek out Dante and confirm that he is genuine. He meets with Katya, with whom he is instantly smitten. Through her, he confirms that Dante is a brilliant scientist whose actual name is Yakov. He also denies to Katya's face that he is a spy.
At the first phase, the British run the operation, while informing the CIA on its results. The CIA team in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, headed by Russell (Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
), is concerned because the book states that the Soviet nuclear missile program is in very bad shape, and therefore there's no real reason for an arms race to continue.
Katya sets up a face-to-face meeting with "Dante," going to great lengths to avoid being followed. Barley explains that the sensitive manuscript is now in the hands of British and American authorities. Yakov feels betrayed, but Barley convinces him that the book can still be published, which was the author's objective in the first place.
Dante is clearly disappointed by Barley's trust of the authorities, explaining that government people (of whatever country) are only driven by their own interests, not caring about simple people. Nevertheless, Dante gives Barley another volume to the manuscript after Barley assures him that he's sympathetic to the cause.
Impressed by the additional volume, Russell's boss Brady (John Mahoney
John Mahoney
John Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...
) and a U.S. military officer named Quinn (J.T. Walsh) personally question Barley, wanting to be certain where his loyalties lie. Russell then travels to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to monitor Barley's progress. He declares that he would help the British operation out of a true ideological belief in Glasnost, although this would not be good news to his "customers" of the weapons industry, who need an arms race for continued prosperity.
Convinced that Dante's manuscripts are truthful, the CIA and MI6 come up with a list of questions (a so-called "shopping list"), which is meant to extract as much information of the USSR as Dante could provide. On that point, irregularities begin to emerge, but the joint British-American team rationalizes them, except for Barley's "Russia House" handler Ned, who senses something amiss.
Barley, by now fully in love with Katya, wants to keep nothing from her; he admits that he is spying. Katya, in return, confirms that Yakov is not acting like himself, fearing that he may be under KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
observation or control. She gives Barley the address where Yakov will be staying when he is in Moscow.
Barley is under full British-American surveillance as he takes the shopping list to Yakov's apartment. Ned suddenly concludes that the Soviets know all about the operation and that they only let it run because they want to put their hands on the list. He realizes that if they get the questions, they will know exactly what the British and Americans know - just based on what they were asking.
Ned is now convinced that Barley has made a deal to turn over the questions to the USSR. Russell disagrees with Ned completely and instructs the assignment to proceed as planned. The British-American team expects the meeting with Yakov to last 2-3 hours, but when Barley doesn't return after 7 hours, Russell must admit that he was wrong. They must now do damage control, pretending that the questions were deliberately false.
Barley, meanwhile, has left a note for Ned. He explains that during a prearranged phone call to Katya, he used a code word to let her know that Yakov has been captured or is dead, and that her life is also in danger. Barley has traded the shopping list to the Russians in exchange for the freedom of Katya's family. He admits to the British and Americans that it might be unfair, but as he writes to Ned: "You shouldn't open other people's letters."
Barley returns to his flat in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, where he waits for a ship to dock that brings Katya and her family to begin a new life with him.
Cast
- Sean ConnerySean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
as Bartholomew 'Barley' Scott Blair - Michelle PfeifferMichelle PfeifferMichelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
as Katya Orlova - Roy ScheiderRoy ScheiderRoy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
as Russell - James FoxJames FoxJames Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
as Ned - John MahoneyJohn MahoneyJohn Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...
as Brady - Michael KitchenMichael KitchenMichael Kitchen is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as DCS Foyle in the British TV series Foyle's War.-Early life:...
as Clive - J. T. WalshJ. T. WalshJames Thomas Patrick "J. T." Walsh was an American character actor. He appeared in many well-known films, including Nixon, Hoffa, A Few Good Men, Backdraft, Miracle on 34th Street, Breakdown, and Good Morning, Vietnam.Walsh was known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs"...
as Colonel Jackson Quinn - Ken RussellKen RussellHenry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
as Walter - David ThrelfallDavid ThrelfallDavid Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
as Wicklow - Klaus Maria BrandauerKlaus Maria BrandauerKlaus Maria Brandauer is an Austrian actor, film director, and professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna.-Personal life:...
as Dante - Mac McDonaldMac McDonaldMac McDonald is an American actor. He is best known for playing Captain Hollister on the BBC TV series Red Dwarf and frequently plays American characters in other British TV shows...
as Bob - Nicholas WoodesonNicholas WoodesonNicholas Woodeson is an English film and television actor.-Education:Woodeson attended Marlborough College and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Film:...
as Niki Landau - Martin ClunesMartin ClunesAlexander Martin Clunes is an English actor and comedian. Clunes is perhaps best known for his roles as Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly, Doctor Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin and the title character in Reggie Perrin....
as Brock - Ian McNeiceIan McNeiceIan McNeice is a prolific English screen, stage, and television character actor.-Early life:McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire. McNeice's acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse...
as Merrydew, Embassy Rep. - Colin StintonColin StintonColin Stinton is a Canadian-born actor who immigrated to the United States in 1952, and now lives in London. He often portrays fictional American politicians, lawyers and government agents. He recently played Neal Daniels in The Bourne Ultimatum...
as Henziger
Production
The Russia House was filmed on location in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and St. Petersburg, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the first major American production to be filmed substantially in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The final scenes were filmed on location in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Soundtrack
The critically acclaimed music to The Russia House was composed and conducted by veteran composer Jerry GoldsmithJerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
. The score featured a unique mixture of Russian music
Music of Russia
Music of Russia denotes music produced in Russia and/or by the Russians. Russia is a large and culturally diverse country, with many ethnic groups, each with their own locally developed music...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
to complement the nationalities and characteristics of the two main characters. The soundtrack was released 11 December 1990 through MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
and features seventeen tracks of score at a running time just over sixty-one minutes.
- "Katya" (3:57)
- "Introductions" (3:12)
- "The Conversation" (4:13)
- "Training" (2:01)
- "Katya and Barley" (2:32)
- "First Name, Yakov" (2:53)
- "Bon Voyage" (2:11)
- "The Meeting" (3:59)
- "I'm With You" (2:39)
- "Alone in the World" (4:09) - performed by Patti AustinPatti Austin-Life and career:Austin was born in Harlem, New York. She made her debut at the Apollo Theater at age four and had a contract with RCA Records when she was only five. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have proclaimed themselves as her godparents....
- "The Gift" (2:34)
- "Full Marks" (2:27)
- "Barley's Love" (3:24)
- "My Only Country" (4:34)
- "Crossing Over" (4:13)
- "The Deal" (4:09)
- "The Family Arrives" (7:38)
Reception
The Russia House currently holds a score of 69% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, indicating a generally positive critical reception.
Hal Hinson in the Washington Post wrote: "Making a picture about the political situation in a country as much in flux as the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
can be disastrous, but the post-glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
realities here seem plausible and up to the minute. The Russia House doesn't sweep you off your feet; it works more insidiously than that, flying in under your radar. If it is like any of its characters, it's like Katya. It's reserved, careful to declare itself but full of potent surprises. It's one of the year's best films." Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
wrote: "At its best, The Russia House offers a rare and enthralling spectacle: the resurrection of buried hopes." Time Out less enthusiastically wrote: "Overtaken by East-West events, and with an over-optimistic ending which sets personal against political loyalty, it's still highly enjoyable, wittily written, and beautiful to behold in places, at others somehow too glossy for its own good."
Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's adapted screenplay was criticised by Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
in the New York Times: "There is evidence of Mr. Stoppard's wit in the dialogue, but the lines are not easily spoken, which is not to say that they are unspeakable. They are clumsy." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
held a similar view in the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
: "What's good are the few emotional moments that break out of the weary spy formula: Connery declaring his love for Pfeiffer, or the British and Americans getting on each other's nerves. But these flashes of energy are isolated inside a screenplay that is static and boring, that drones on lifelessly through the le Carré universe, like some kind of space probe that continues to send back random information long after its mission has been accomplished."
Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
was praised for his portrayal of Barley, "bluff, incorrigible, jazz-loving... his finest performance in ages." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote: "As the flawed, unreliable publisher, Connery is in top form." Peter Travers in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
thought he captured "the 'splendid quiet' that le Carré found in Blair." Hal Hinson in the Washington Post wrote: "This may be the most complex character Connery has ever played, and without question it's one of his richest performances. Connery shows the melancholy behind Barley's pickled charm, all the wasted years and unkept promises." Desson Howe, also in the Washington Post, wrote: "Sean Connery, like Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
, takes a role like a vitamin pill, downs it, then goes about his bighearted business of making the part his idiosyncratic own." However, he received criticism from the New York Times, who thought that the "usually magnetic Mr. Connery... is at odds with Barley, a glib, lazy sort of man who discovers himself during this adventure. Mr. Connery goes through the movie as if driving in second gear."
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
also garnered critical plaudits for delivering "the film's most persuasive performance... Miss Pfeiffer, sporting a credible Russian accent, brings to it a no-nonsense urgency that is missing from the rest of the movie," according to the New York Times. Desson Howe in the Washington Post wrote: "As Katya, a mother who risks her love to smuggle a document and falls for a Westerner in the process, her gestures are entirely believable, her accent (at least to one set of Western ears) is quietly perfect." Peter Travers in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
wrote that "Pfeiffer, who gets more subtle and incisive with each film, is incandescent as Katya." Hal Hinson in the Washington Post congratulated her for portraying a rounded character: "Her triumph goes beyond her facility with the Russian accent; other actresses could have done that. She's great at playing contradictions, at being tough yet yielding, cloaked yet open, direct yet oblique. What's she's playing, we suspect, is the great Russian game of hide-and-seek. But Pfeiffer gives it a personal dimension. Katya holds herself in check, but her wariness, one senses, is as much personal as it is cultural -- the result, perhaps, of her own secret wounds. It's one of the year's most full-blooded performances." However, Pfeiffer also had her detractors. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
thought that her "Russian accent proves very believable but she has limited notes to play." Time Out wrote that "Pfeiffer can act, but her assumption of a role for which her pouty glamour is inappropriate - a Russian office-worker seen rubbing shoulders in the bus queues - is a jarring note."
Awards and nominations
Fred Schepisi was nominated for the Golden BearGolden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival
41st Berlin International Film Festival
The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 15 to 26, 1991.-Jury:* Volker Schlöndorff * Chantal Akerman* Laurie Anderson* José Luis Borau* Judith Godrèche* Yuri Klepikov* Renate Krößner* Gillo Pontecorvo...
.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
, but lost to Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
in Misery
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
(1990).