OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

About the Film

A box-office sensation in France, comic star Jean Dujardin stars as secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117 who in the tradition of Maxwell Smart and Inspector Clouseau somehow succeeds in spite of his ineptitude. After a fellow agent and close friend is murdered, Hubert is ordered to take his place at the head of a poultry firm in Cairo. This is to be his cover while he investigates Jack's death, monitors the Suez Canal, checks up on the Brits and Soviets, burnishes France's reputation, quells a fundamentalist rebellion and brokers peace in the Middle East. A blithe and witty send-up not only of spy films of that era and the suave secret agent figure but also neo-colonialism, ethnocentrism and the very idea of Western covert action in the Middle East.

Reactions

"This inspired piece of silliness boasts gorgeous period design, deftly tweaks French colonial smugness and, in Jean Dujardin’s self-mocking playfulness as Agent 117, offers a charging comic turn, closer in spirit to Cary Grant than Mike Myers." — Vogue

"Sparkling production design, a jubilantly retro score and a genuine flair for using the film and TV vocabulary of the ’60s to revisit colonial arrogance put pic in the same conceptual ballpark as Austin Powers or The Naked Gun series." — Variety

Awards

• 2006 Seattle International Film Festival - Audience Award

• 2006 Tokyo International Film Festival - Grand Prix

Cast & Crew

Cast

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117: Jean Dujardin
Larmina Bérénice Béjo
Princess Al Tarouk Aure Atika
Jack Philippe Lefèbvre
Setine Constantin Alexandrov
Egyptian Spokesperson Saïd Amadis
Gardenborough Laurent Bateau
The Boss Claude Brosset
Raymond Pelletier François Damiens

Crew

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Screenplay: Jean-François Halin, Jean Bruce (novel)
Producers: Eric Altmayer and Nicolas Altmayer
Adaptation and dialogues: Jean-François Halin, Michel Hazanavicius
Cinematography: Guillaume Schiffman A.F.C.
Editing: Reynald Bertrand
Costume Designer: Charlotte David
Production Designer: Maamar Ech-Cheikh
Special Effects: David Danesi
Casting Director: Stéphane Touitou
Production Manager: Daniel Chevalier
Original Music: Ludovic Bource and Kamel Ech-Cheikh

Technical Info

Production Year: 2006
Countries of Production: France
Languages: French
Running Time: 1h 39m
Screen Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby Digital
Color: Color
Rating: Unrated

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies - Press Page

Awards

• 2006 Seattle International Film Festival - Audience Award

• 2006 Tokyo International Film Festival - Grand Prix

Reactions

"This inspired piece of silliness boasts gorgeous period design, deftly tweaks French colonial smugness and, in Jean Dujardin’s self-mocking playfulness as Agent 117, offers a charging comic turn, closer in spirit to Cary Grant than Mike Myers." — Vogue

"Sparkling production design, a jubilantly retro score and a genuine flair for using the film and TV vocabulary of the ’60s to revisit colonial arrogance put pic in the same conceptual ballpark as Austin Powers or The Naked Gun series." — Variety

Detailed Film Info

A box-office sensation in France, comic star Jean Dujardin stars as secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117 who in the tradition of Maxwell Smart and Inspector Clouseau somehow succeeds in spite of his ineptitude. After a fellow agent and close friend is murdered, Hubert is ordered to take his place at the head of a poultry firm in Cairo. This is to be his cover while he investigates Jack's death, monitors the Suez Canal, checks up on the Brits and Soviets, burnishes France's reputation, quells a fundamentalist rebellion and brokers peace in the Middle East. A blithe and witty send-up not only of spy films of that era and the suave secret agent figure but also neo-colonialism, ethnocentrism and the very idea of Western covert action in the Middle East.

Trailer

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