In the final days before D Day, a German agent codenamed 'the Needle' (Donald Sutherland) discovers that the Allies are intending to invade on the Normandy coast. Having taken photos of the faked encampments that the Germans believe indicate a landing at Calais, he heads north to meet with a U-boat that will deliver his information to Adolf Hitler himself.
When a storm foils his attempt to escape, the Needle finds himself stranded on Storm Island, off the Scottish coast.
While he recovers, the Needle finds himself drawn to Lucy (Kate Nelligan), the wife of the local sheep farmer. Isolated from her resentful husband, she joins him in a passionate affair.
Will love foil the Needle's plans?
"The war has come down to the two of us"
The first impression I get from Eye of the Needle is 'what if'. Not because of the film's plot, but because this film reaffirmed a vague feeling I had about the film's director, Richard Marquand.
If the name sounds familiar, it is because the Welsh filmmaker was responsible for directing Return of the Jedi (his next film). While that film is his most well-known credit, the film of his that I gravitate towards is his 1985 thriller Jagged Edge.
Marquand sadly passed away in 1987 so it is impossible to know how his career would have progressed.
After watching Eye of the Needle, I could not help but note the similarities with Jagged Edge, and the strength of both films in their character-driven suspense.
Both films are about women who become involved with men who are involved in dark deeds. Whereas Jagged Edge centres its protagonist, Eye of the Needle maintains the novel's dual point of views.
I read the book about 20 years ago, so my memory of it may not be strong, but from what I can remember the film follows the narrative of the book fairly closely.
What I found intriguing about the film is the characterisation of the Needle, and his relationship with Lucy.
In his relationship with Lucy, there are vague references to his background - a sense of parental control and lack of affection, a sense of betrayal which has kept him isolated. Sutherland displays a ruefulness and a self-awareness about who he is - there is an implication that the Needle is aware of what he has become, but he cannot change.
I would not call the movie deep, but the ambiguities of the Needle's motives in his relationship with Lucy make the movie more re-watchable than the premise may suggest.
There is a version of this movie where the importance of the ticking clock is emphasised. And I would say that holds for the first half of the movie, which plays like a low-key version of a 'man-on-the-run' thriller. There are a few instances of violence and scenes of the Needle avoiding capture, but while they are well-staged, the movie feels too familiar.
Once the Needle is stuck on the island, the movie becomes a duet between the lonely agent and the lonely woman.
For this review, I watched the movie twice. On first viewing, I found the structure a little odd, and thought Sutherland received more screen time. I was a little underwhelmed, but something about the movie made me go back and watch it again.
First impressions are not always the best, and I have had enough experience with other media to recognise that repeat viewings can lead to completely different reactions.
Second time around with the Needle, I really engaged with the emotion of it. I think the script performs a really elegant balancing act between the two lead characters, who have nothing to do with each other until midway through the movie.
Now I have not gone back to the book, but from what I recall, Ken Follett gets more inside the heads of Lucy and the Needle. This works for the book, but as a visual story I think his opacity is more engaging. The espionage aspect is fairly straightforward - it is basically a guy delivering a MacGuffin under a tight deadline - and the focus on the relationship between Lucy and the Needle differentiates this movie from other WW2 thrillers.
The actors are really great in this. There is no big moments or scenery-chewing. I really like how understated the playing is. I think my personal taste when it comes to melodrama is understatement, and Eye of the Needle feels like a pitch-perfect example of that approach.
Kate Nelligan is really great as Lucy. She is constantly refereeing her relationship with her husband. She is really engaging and empathetic and never comes across as an archetypal damsel in distress or a final girl. There is an exposed quality, a vulnerability to her that makes the film's final scenes more impactful.
Donald Sutherland is also good as the Needle - there is a sense of cynicism to his performance that is interesting. He comes across as someone who is driven to succeed at his goals. From what we learn of his backstory, I took that drive to be something he had been trained in from birth, a trait he resents yet cannot ignore - even if it means destroying his one chance at happiness.
As far as the other production elements, Alan Hume's photography is rather beautiful, in a bleak way. He had a long collaboration with Marquand (and also photographed three James Bond movies). Maybe it is because I am familiar with his work in Bondage, I was surprised at how impressive the photography. It is very autumnal and drained of life. You really get a sense of a location under siege. I also love the sequence where the Needle stabs a soldier in a darkened train carriage. There are some really great visual moments.
The one element I am a little divided on is the score. I love Miklos Rozsa's scores, but I found his work here to be a touch too melodramatic and almost old-fashioned. There are some emotional beats where when the strings came in that it felt like a movie from the Forties, rather than a movie set in the Forties. I thought the romantic focus of the score was good, but the orchestration felt out of time.
Overall, Eye of the Needle is a really solid thriller. It makes a good double bill with Richard Marquand's other thriller Jagged Edge, and I think the Needle's unspoken motivations give the movie a re-watchability that it would otherwise lack.
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