A Most Wanted Man Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

A Most Wanted Man Blu-ray Movie Review

It's colder than ever.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 27, 2014

At the height of the James Bond craze in 1965, when spies were seen as gallivanting womanizers with all sorts of high-tech gizmos as their beck and call, Martin Ritt brought John le Carré’s thriller The Spy Who Came in from the Cold to the screen in what was a somewhat more prosaic if no less intriguing depiction of undercover operatives, one that might almost be seen as an "anti-007" entry in the then burgeoning spy genre. In much the same anachronistic fashion, Anton Corbijn’s film version of le Carré’s novel A Most Wanted Man works against some contemporary cinematic tropes revolving around terrorism. Instead of the hyperbolic tendencies of outings like Zero Dark Thirty, Corbijn fashions a quieter but surprisingly intense look at an anti-terror group in Hamburg, Germany attempting to prevent a replay of the horrors of September 11, 2001. Corbijn adopts a somewhat laconic and discursive approach to the subject, much as he did with his controversial The American. A Most Wanted Man features a world weary and rumpled focal character named Günther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman in his last leading role, one which could well bring him his final Academy Award nomination) who is haunted by past mistakes but who is intent on preventing a potential terrorist from wreaking havoc in the German port city. Bachmann finds himself surrounded by operatives with shifting allegiances, in typically knotty le Carré fashion, though the film, much like The Spy Who Came in From the Cold or indeed later le Carré adaptations like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, tends to play things fairly close to the vest, emphasizing character over action.

One of the more interesting things about A Most Wanted Man is how le Carré deals fairly discursively with two of the most contentious elements in how both professionals and the public at large deal with terrorists, or at least perceived terrorists. The first element is the baseline of suspicion that tends to run through the contemporary body politic, sometimes at the mere appearance of a Muslim. That plays into the trek of Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin), a Chechin emigré who shows up suddenly in Hamburg one day and almost immediately is on the radar of a tiny anti-terrorism unit headed by Bachmann. It’s initially unclear why Karpov is in Hamburg or what he’s up to, but it’s obvious that Bachmann and his group operate under a “suspect first” mantra, assuming that Karpov’s motives are not pure, especially since it looks like his father was a ruthless Russian military commander.

Bachmann’s gang seems to have an almost psychic foreknowledge of Karpov’s movements (one of the film’s underdeveloped aspects), and watches as he ultimately makes contact with a human rights attorney named Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams). It turns out Karpov is intent on meeting a mysterious local banker named Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe), something that Richter helps to facilitate. Ultimately it becomes clear that Karpov’s motives are more financial than explosive, but that in fact only plays into Bachmann’s long sought attempts to snare a local bigwig named Dr. Faisal Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), a Hamburg based Muslim who funds several huge charities, but whom Bachmann suspects is also funneling huge amounts of cash to terrorist groups.

Playing out against the cat and mouse game that ultimately develops between Bachmann, Karpov, Richter and Brue is another cat and mouse game Bachmann is on the receiving end of, as both other German intelligence outfits as well as an American CIA officer named Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright) get involved, much to Bachmann’s chagrin. This is another somewhat underdeveloped plot point, one that plays more viscerally into the film’s devastating climax but which could have used more explication and background. Without revealing too many of the twists and turns A Most Wanted Man takes, it’s completely obvious that Bachmann has a handle on everything (perhaps too much of a handle—the film just kind of coasts on synchronicities quite a bit of the time), and so why meddlesome operatives would want to be working at cross purposes is never fully explained.

Le Carré is obviously adept at showing the “spy game” as a sometimes frustrating bureaucracy, but A Most Wanted Man may let Bachmann and his team overcome every seeming obstacle with a bit too much ease, at least for the benefit of any mounting suspense. While there are some shortfalls here (perhaps due to Hoffmann’s untimely death), the film is often riveting and contains top rate performances all around. Hoffman, McAdams and Dafoe all do slight German accents here which manage to sound authentic without lapsing into hokiness, and Dobrygin is unforgettable despite having very little dialogue (his doleful eyes manage to convey his character’s angst quite convincingly). A Most Wanted Man doesn’t really have the emotional impact that The Spy Who Came in from the Cold does, perhaps because there’s no real relationship at the center of the film (there are glancing hints made that Richter and Karpov as well as Bachmann and one of his underlings have romantic leanings, but nothing is ever really strongly established with either couple). The key selling point here is probably Hoffman, who manages to make spying seem like an exercise in middle management.

A Most Wanted Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Most Wanted Man is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, the film is often saturated in tones of either blue or yellow, leading to a slight but noticeable diminution in fine detail at times. Even in some of these lighting or color grading conditions, however, detail can still pop quite impressively in close-ups (see screenshot 1). Director Corbijn and cinematographer Benoir Delhomme capture the slightly seedy quality of Hamburg, with some outdoor locations feeling almost claustrophobic due to overcast skies and a somewhat desaturated appearance. One nice outdoor scene takes advantage of some autumnal tones (see screenshot 13), a sequence which also offers some substantial depth of field as Richter bicycles through the city. Contrast is generally very strong, offering good support for some of the more dimly lit moments. There are no issues with image instability or artifacts.

A Most Wanted Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Most Wanted Man's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio only rarely gets the opportunity to really strut its stuff, staying rather reserved if admittedly nuanced for the bulk of the film. Ambient environmental effects are very well placed throughout the soundstage, and dialogue is also always clear and easy to understand (even with the accents). One sequence offers a brief car chase and jaunt through some house music drenched clubs, and here the soundtrack perks up measurably, offering really impressive low end and good surround activity. Fidelity remains excellent and there are no problems of any kind.

A Most Wanted Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of A Most Wanted Man (1080p; 16:09) is yet another cut and paste EPK, though it does have some good interviews with Hoffman and others in the cast and crew.


• Spymaster: John le Carré in Hamburg (1080p; 9:32) is a much better featurette, one that offers the iconic author discussing his own history in the intelligence business as well as his long fascination with Germany and Hamburg in particular.

A Most Wanted Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Another spy of perhaps more whimsical proclivities than those typically featured in le Carré novels famously used to state, "Missed it by that much!" Some cynics may aver that A Most Wanted Man falls into that category, too. While it has the requisite gravitas that defines much of le Carré's writing, it's a bit too pat and convenient at times. The film also could have benefited from fleshing out some of the back stabbing machinations that ultimately play into its denouement. Those shortcomings are probably more than offset by the superb performances, however. With strong technical merits and one last chance to see Philip Seymour Hoffman at the top of his game, A Most Wanted Man comes Recommended.