Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema: Spies

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Synopsis

In this episode of film critic Mark Kermode’s deep dive into cinema genres and trends, he dissects the narrative mechanics, stylistic conventions, and ideological evolution of espionage cinema. Kermode revels in the escapist delight of spy films, examining how their action and suspense keeps audiences on the edge of their seats. However, he also looks at how spy thrillers can be used as cultural barometers reflecting timely anxieties about surveillance, institutional trust, geopolitics, and paranoia. With analysis of films from the James Bond franchise and some of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous work, this hour-long episode also investigates more modern iterations of the spy genre too.

Films featured within this documentary include:

The 39 Steps (1935), Notorious (1946), The Third Man (1949), North by Northwest (1959), Dr. No (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Marathon Man (1976), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Enemy of the State (1998), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Lives of Others (2006), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Skyfall (2012), Spy (2015), Red Sparrow (2018) and No Time to Die (2021).