OSS 117’s Cairo Mission Is a Bumbling Mess With a Few Sharp Moments

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is a spy comedy that wants to be both a parody and a genuine action adventure. It mostly succeeds at the former and struggles at the latter. Michel Hazanavicius directs a film about a French secret agent named Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, better known as OSS 117, who is sent to Cairo in 1955 to investigate the disappearance of his best friend and fellow spy Jack Jefferson. What starts as a simple mission quickly turns into a web of international intrigue, complete with a cargo ship’s missing weapons and a group of fanatical revolutionaries.

Trailer, via Doppelgänger Releasing.

The Setup

The film opens with a black-and-white prologue set in Berlin in 1945, where OSS 117 and Jack Jefferson take over a Nazi plane and recover stolen V2 plans. Then the credits roll and we move to Rome, where the agent is in a hotel room with Princess Al Tarouk, who gives him an envelope to deliver to his superiors in Paris. That envelope contains photos showing the death of Jack. OSS 117 is then sent to Cairo by his superiors to investigate both cases.

Cairo and the Cast

In Egypt, he meets his contact, Larmina, a former business associate of Jack and an OSS operative. She introduces him to a group of livestock businessmen: Moeller, Pelletier, and Setine. A British spy tries to give him information about Jack but is killed by a hooded figure who escapes before OSS 117 can catch him.

The Muezzin Incident

At night, OSS 117 is woken repeatedly by the muezzin’s call to prayer. He climbs the nearby tower, grabs the microphone, and broadcasts his annoyance to the whole city. A group of religious fanatics, led by an Imam, call for a revolution. Larmina betrays him by luring him to a meeting of the Eagles of Keops, where he is beaten and thrown into the Suez Canal to drown. He escapes.

The Chase

Setine, whom he met earlier, is a Russian agent who helps OSS 117 escape. The film’s fight sequences, between OSS 117 and his long cast of assailants, are energetic and meticulously choreographed. There is also a heart-stopping catfight between the film’s two leading ladies.

The Princess

Princess Al Tarouk is played by Aure Atika. Larmina is played by Bérénice Bejo. The chemistry between the two women drives some of the film’s best comic moments.

The Film’s Weaknesses

The film’s problem is that its humor often lands flat. OSS 117 is a bumbling idiot, and the film expects the audience to laugh at him being incompetent. Sometimes that works. Often it doesn’t. The film also leans heavily on stereotypes of Arabs and Egyptians, which can feel dated even within the genre’s rules.

The Technical Side

Hazanavicius’ set pieces are carefully constructed, adding to the film’s sense of geographic and time-period authenticity. Most of the filming was done in Morocco, which stands in for Cairo.

The Final Word

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is a film with ambition and talent, but its jokes don’t always hit their mark. It’s a fun, energetic watch, but it’s not a masterpiece. It’s a film that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t apologize for it, even when that means leaning on tired tropes. The action is sharp, the performances are committed, and the score is excellent. It just isn’t a comedy that consistently earns its laughs.

Aure Atika · Bérénice Bejo · Michel Hazanavicius · OSS 117 · spy comedy