While watching Black Bag – Steven Soderbergh’s latest film – I was reminded of Sriram Raghavan more than once. After all, both Raghavan and Soderbergh operate in hardened, grown-up genres. They’re both cinephiles, and therefore well-versed in the unwritten ‘contract’ between a genre and its aficionados, along with being crafty enough to flip the switch on the staples, time and again.
They also seem to shoot their films in a non-pompous manner, whose grounded style doesn’t necessarily mean it lacks flavour. Helming thriftily-produced films that make dialogue sound like a martial arts sequence, both filmmakers might make cynical films about dark human impulses, but a deeper examination of their works prove they’re inherently idealists.
Like in Raghavan’s last release, Merry Christmas, where he wove a love story between two strangers around a murder taking place on Christmas eve. Similarly Soderbergh’s latest is a velvety relationship drama. Underneath all the spy jargon, malware destabilising rival nations, drone strikes, satellite surveillance, is a married couple – reevaluating and reaffirming their trust in each other.
George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) are possibly the ‘Brangelina’ of National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Which is a neat touch in itself, given that the film has echoes of Mr & Mrs Smith (2005), which had starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
George is given a list of people who are suspected of leaking a piece of technology codenamed ‘Severus’. If it gets into the wrong hands, thousands of people could die. George is supposed to investigate, and find the leak. The only problem? One of the suspects in the list is Kathryn. He has one week to find out.
Mr and Mrs Smith (2005) used two rival spies trying to kill each other, as a metaphor for a marriage. Writer David Koepp introduces similar parallels between fidelity in a marriage, and being loyal to one’s country. Like with people, most of us are susceptible. In an increasingly opaque world, does it matter? It’s no surprise that at least four of the primary eight characters in the film are shown to be serial cheaters. In the life of a spy, who someone calls ‘professional liars’, can they expect to have an honest, functioning relationship in their personal lives?
As George invites the four suspects (apart from his wife) for dinner at his residence – Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page), Dr Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris), Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), and Clarissa (Marisa Abela) – Koepp writes one of the most riveting dialogue scenes in recent memory.
A stunning concoction of Le Carre’s mood and Bond’s uber suaveness
The four suspects comprise two couples – James/Zoe and Freddie/Clarissa. Just before dinner, George warns Kathryn to ‘stay away’ from the chana masala – which he’s infused with truth serum. Playing a game that reveals something embarrassing about the person to their right, things understandably get heated.
The audience learns how George gathered evidence against his own father for treason (Fassbender’s stone-cold face makes the anecdote that much more chilling). “I hate liars,” he concludes as the reason behind why someone might implicate their own father.
One wonders what he would do if he found evidence against Kathryn. If he considers her to be a suspect why would he warn her about the truth serum infused dish? Was it actually in the chana masala or in something else? Is George playing games with her too?
Soderbergh accumulates a fine ensemble of actors – Fassbender and Blanchett have a cool dynamic, who seem to be communicating wordlessly. Both veterans at their jobs, there is an unsaid understanding; which could be interpreted as a corridor for doubt or absolute trust. Koepp’s script insists there is no ‘absolute trust’ without the occasional doubt.
In a scene, George reveals the secret of their marriage – “I watch her, and she watches me. If she gets into trouble, I will do everything in my power to extricate her.”
On the other hand, Clarissa/Freddy seem to be sharing an abusive, codependent dynamic. Burke’s Freddy is too much of a cocksure British spy, while Clarissa is searching for domestic stability in an older, seemingly mature man. James seems devoted to Zoe, and on the surface seems to be the most well-adjusted among the lot, while Zoe appears intriguing only because of the rule of ‘least likely character to do it is automatically the best reveal’.
These are smoke and mirrors though — Soderbergh and Koepp’s way of keeping us invested. There’s also the character of Arthur Stiglitz (Pierce Brosnan) – Kathryn and James’ shadowy boss, who could probably use another scene or two to make his presence much more flavourful for the film.
Black Bag is a stunning concoction of Le Carre’s mood and Bond’s uber suaveness. It might have been an in-joke to hire Brosnan and Harris here – completely unlike their cool, composed selves in the Bond franchise. But it’s Fassbender and Blanchett’s central dynamic that steals the show here.
Fassbender – who seems intent on not partaking in the visual dazzle of his recent films (like David Fincher’s The Killer too) – makes George a personification of dull discipline. While Blanchett uses her cipher of a face to play Kathryn as someone assured of her choices. To her credit, Kathryns look like a killer, traitor, lover – all in the same breath.
Soderbergh’s film joins a tiny list of shows (Slow Horses, The Day of the Jackal) on British Intelligence, which seem to be looking inwards on their failures, rather than pinning it on the outside. Black Bag seems to know one thing for sure – whether it’s cheating on a partner, or betraying one’s nation—it’s a choice. No one makes us do anything. In a world riddled with deceit, maybe our unconditional love for a single partner/nation might be the risqué option.
The film is showing in theatres.
