Just so there is no confusion, be advised that this film is not a remake or reboot of either the 2019 action film of the same name starring Olga Kurylenko or Hany Abu-Assad’s 2012 film starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
THE COURIER is a compelling tale of espionage and intrigue based on a true story involving one aspect of the Cuban Missile Crisis wherein high-ranking Soviet G.R.U. officer Oleg Penkovsky was providing classified information on the Soviet nuclear program to MI6 and the CIA via mild-mannered British businessman, Greville Wynne. Wynne had extensive business contacts throughout Europe, most notably Eastern Europe, during the Cold War era. Many of these thousands of documents ferried from Penkovsky to Wynne and on to MI6 and the CIA helped to bring the Cuban Missile Crisis to an end and prevent a nuclear war. While there are clear nods to similar films such as Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, there is plenty of history to go around for all as director Dominic Cooke and screenwriter Tom O’Connor bring a fresh set of eyes and very human POV, immersing us in this nail-biting fact-based story, one that is more than interesting enough to warrant picking up some non-fiction books on the subject and delving deeper into the true telling of this part of world history.
Key to the success of THE COURIER is not only intense and engaging performances by Benedict Cumberbatch as Greville Wynne and Merab Ninidze as Oleg Penkovsky, but the focus on the humanity of each man and how that fueled what became a friendship and alliance. Add to that Sean Bobbit’s cinematography, elevated even higher by Abel Korzeniowski’s score, and editing courtesy of Tariq Anwar and Gareth Scales, with particular attention paid to the second half of the film once Penkovsky and Wynne are both caught for their espionage and thrown into a Soviet Gulag and we have a film and a piece of history from which you cannot turn away.
Thanks to score, and Sean Bobbit’s cinematography, visually and sonically, the wash of the film as a whole screams “historical”, but with the second half of the film, we are plunged into almost a totally black and white world with ever encroaching close-ups pushing in, pushing in, pushing in as extreme ECUs. We feel the walls closing in on Wynne and at moments with the camera moving almost 360, it feels emotionally akin to what Anatole Litvak and his cinematographer Leo Tover did with The Snake Pit and the spiraling into insanity. Powerful. Chilling. Glorious cinema. But then you toss in Cumberbatch’s performance, most notably in those Gulag sequences, and we are talking award-worthy.
Wonderfully judicious use of negative space, notably during a specific Gulag moment where Wynne and Penkovsky are permitted to see each other as part of an interrogation moment, takes your breath away. The power of that moment as a hand comes out of the darkness and then a face with everything else cloaked in the blackness of despair, and the two dirty hands that look almost indistinguishable (as people the world over do when a nuclear bomb goes off) makes your heart stop. In that moment, THE COURIER shows us human connection, hope, and that one man, or two, can make a difference felt the world over. The whole film is summarized with that clasp of hands.
But leading up to the power of that moment is color and richness, a golden glow as we get to know Wynne and Penkovsky as family men, as Greville and Oleg, and they become friends. Bobbit’s camera moves with energy and vibrancy when the men are together in public, and sits with solemn stillness when alone and out of the eyes and ears of others. A stunning emotional contrast that makes the dual arrests and that final act even more frightening. Sharing the Russian ballet, a love which Greville learns as his friendship with Oleg develops, the ballet sequences speak volumes not only in lensing and distancing Greville and Oleg from “the world”, but in building and cementing their friendship. Standout is a performance of “Swan Lake” as tears running down Greville’s cheeks are so tenderly reflected in the light as Cumberbatch slightly turns his head. Homelife for both men is simple, more subdued with a static camera, while lighting, especially in Penkovsky’s home, is more subdued, flatter.
Of course, Tariq Anwar’s editing, together with that of Scales, is perfection for this film. One look at Anwar’s prior works such as The Liberator, The Good Shepherd, Mark Felt, and Our Kind of Traitor tell you why he was the man to cut THE COURIER. He knows how to build tension, unease, and shock while touching the heart.
Already long an admirer of Abel Korzeniowski’s scoring, what he does with THE COURIER is exquisite. The first act of the film, while embracing waltz timing and movement, also boasts of frivolity both in the composition and the instrumentation. It’s fun; almost a waltz-timed drinking and partying melody. As the film progresses and we get deeper into the activities of Oleg and Greville, however, the tone is more somber, darker, with richer more bass tonality. It all fuels the emotional beats of the story beautifully.
From a performance standpoint, watching Benedict Cumberbatch shift tone is riveting and again, the Gulag sequences are chilling. He is truly award-worthy. Almost completely unfamiliar with Merab Ninidze before THE COURIER, I am now hooked on him. As Oleg, he is compelling, inviting us into the shadows, making us want to see more, to pull back the “Iron Curtain.”
There’s something about Rachel Brosnahan as CIA liaison Emily Donovan that just doesn’t sit right. While I can appreciate Dominic Cooke undoubtedly trying to set apart the loud brassy American from the quiet and staid MI6 Brits, the bleached blonde All Net Extra hairsprayed 1960’s flip, and the brassiness of her voice and the character, is just “too” much. While Jessie Buckley solidly delivers as Wynne’s somewhat mousey wife Sheila, hair and make-up take you out of her moment as well as not fitting Sheila’s personality. Vladimir Chuprikov will have you doing a double-take as he embodies Nikita Khrushchev.
From a story standpoint, Cooke together with scribe Tom O’Connor does a solid job at telling this specific story. O’Connor is a pleasant surprise tackling the drama of THE COURIER, particularly given the comedic hijinks we’ve seen in his work with The Hitman’s Bodyguard, although he does give us not only some light moments early in THE COURIER, but human connection and resonance with Wynne and Penkovsky.
It’s easy to see that the story of these two men and the gravitas of the situation is where Cooke’s attention was focused as a director and rightly so. His work as a theatre director serves him well with THE COURIER. He does right by both men and their sacrifices and bravery that truly saved the world.
Directed by Dominic Cooke
Written by Tom O’Connor
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley
by debbie elias, 03/12/2021
