[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] From "007" to "Mission Impossible" and "The Bourne Supremacy", spy/agent themes in film and television dramas have always been the audience's preference. Ordinary people are always curious about mysterious spies. On September 4th, the four

[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] From "07" to "Mission: Impossible" and ": The Bourne Supremacy ", the spy/agent theme in film and television dramas has always been the audience's preference. Ordinary people are always full of mysterious spies. curious. On September 4th, the fourth season of the high-scoring spy drama "The Exile" was launched, which made many fans of the drama excited to see the lazy Jackson Lamb and his men again. In the play, this group of seemingly "waste" British MI5 agents showed their "true colors" as spies. They did not show the coolness of "007" Bond at all, but were like "social animals beating workers", which actually resonated with the audience.

An anti-Bond style "social animal" agent

The first season of the British drama "Flower" will be broadcast in 2022. The camera focuses on one of the most famous spy agencies in the UK-MI5. However, the protagonist is not what the world thinks. It is an elite team, but a group of "streamers" who have been marginalized within the institution (the English title "slow horses" literally means slow horse, which is a homonym for "rotten house" in English). Famous British actor and Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman plays the leader of this group of "outcasts", Jackson Lamb, a senior agent who is smelly but has passed the medical examination. He looks muddled but has a clear mind. Each of these agents who were "exiled" to a shabby office in a "bad house" has obvious shortcomings and are not welcome even when they return to the headquarters. But the ambitious female boss of MI5 needs these people to deal with the dirty work. live. In short, this is like a group of humble "cow horses" in the workplace, bringing to the audience an "anti-Bond" style of decadence and self-deprecation.

The fourth season poster of "Flower"

"Flower", adapted from Mick Herron's novel of the same name, unfolds in this setting full of contradictions and ironies. In the first season, Agent River Cartwright, played by Jack Lowden, was originally thought to be a shrewd and capable actor, but he made low-level mistakes during the execution of an important mission and failed to prevent terrorists from causing serious casualties. As a member of the "Flowers". As the plot unfolds, the entire "Rotten House" members appear on stage, allowing the audience to discover that the daily status of agents seems to be no different from that of company employees in office buildings. This may be the truth of the spy world - there are no flashy sports cars, wine, or blonde beauties. The biggest enemies of British agents shown in the show are actually bureaucracy, disgusting bosses and politicians with ulterior motives.

The Oscar winner’s performance is “worthy of an Emmy Award”

Such a drama with an “atypical” spy setting and full of down-to-earth elements debuted on the streaming media platform “Apple TV+” two years ago It was so well received that the Rotten Tomatoes film review website gave the show's first three seasons super high scores of 95%, 100% and 98%. For the newly released fourth season, some media outlets who watched the drama in advance on the metacritic website gave a comprehensive evaluation of 87 points. Empire magazine called the latest season "tighter, funnier, and one of the best yet in this atypical spy drama." "Radio Times" believes that the fourth season of "Flower" has a wonderful layout and the relationships between characters are richer and more fascinating. The British Broadcasting Corporation (bbc) praised Gary Oldman's performance in "The Lost Man" as worthy of an Emmy Award: "In his 40-year acting career, Oldman has received three Oscar nominations and a statuette. "Flower" is his first regular series performance. He has devoted a lot to Lamb, a stinky guy, including reading all the novels in the original series. This role may bring him more honors."

The "Collider" website believes that "it is somewhat difficult to integrate new threats and characters into the existing world. The plot of the new season is a bit slow, but it can still bring a surprise to the audience." The website also took advantage of the situation to recommend many is a spy/agent-themed drama series. In addition to this kind of "slow-moving, morally gloomy" British spy drama, there are also "Night Agent", "Spy Rabbit Hole", "Double Agent", "Cold War Spy" and "The Old Man" Etc., these works have different styles and backgrounds, and their enduring popularity shows the audience's enthusiasm for this kind of subject matter.

Spy themes have new anxieties

"Urgent missions, mysterious plots, luxury sports cars, exotic locales, love encounters... Spy themes can always satisfy our curiosity." CNN summarized on the 2nd This topic was stated at the time, "On the big screen there are "007" and "Kingsman", and on the small screen there are dramas such as "Homeland", "The American Spy" and "Flower", all of which highlight the audience's collective interest in spy stories. "Infatuation." According to film historian Samita Senya, spy novels have been taking shape as early as the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and their emphasis on geopolitics reached its peak during the Cold War, and this tension was also reflected in Among film and television works, the first film in the "007" series, "Dr. No", was born during that period (1962). Since then, these spy films have gradually developed two different paths: one is the realism represented by John le Carré, which prefers a cold and sharp realistic style. Representative works include "The Spy in Berlin" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier". , Spy"; the other is the romantic school represented by Ian Fleming ("007" series), with more fantasy colors and entertainment elements. The spy theme has gained popularity under the collision of popular literature and movies. a huge commercial success. Nowadays, in a world where artificial intelligence is "raging", spy themes have added new anxieties. For example, last year's "Mission: Impossible: Reckoning" and "Operation Golden Boom" showed this sense of fear. Artificial intelligence on the screen The threat posed by AI has some resonance with the supervision of AI in the real world.

In addition, spy film and television works not only have a socio-political basis, but are also good at creating various global adventures. In the recent "007" and "Mission: Impossible" films, the protagonists James Bond and Ethan Hunt are in Mexico, The random collision on the Czech streets, coupled with various high-tech props, beauties and fancy costumes, these entertainment elements effectively attracted the audience.

On the other hand, commercial blockbusters such as "007" are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but the general audience knows very little about the real spy situation. Art historian Julia Bailey said that many of these famous scenes on the screen are fictitious by the creators. "In reality, there are no exciting racing cars. Most spies are busy with desk work. Audiences like to watch spy themes because of the There are clear good guys and bad guys, the plot looks brave and adventurous, and we want to be the protagonist's companion and solve those problems with him."

In short, these spy-themed film and television works have already formed a mature pattern-romanticizing spies and diluting the truly cruel geopolitical background, and beating them back to "social animals" like "Flowers" can also be regarded as another kind of An attempt to relieve the tension of the audience.