Review of Three Days of the Condor (1975) by Mereie D — 12 Dec 2009

This classic spy thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat right till the end, but makes you clench your fists in excitement only from time to time. The story is great (and perhaps farfetched, then again maybe not) and very complicated.

We know nothing more than Redford does, which is good, for it allows us to identify with him all along the way. He is cautious, yet clever; paranoid, yet sharp, just the way he should be under the circumstances.

At first I thought the relationship with Faye Dunaway was not too realistic, but on reflection I see it differently. Since the relationship she is in is not too great, she is open to another romantic connection, which Redford can provide her with.

She is not really scared of him and learns to believe and trust him because her intuition tells her he is not a bad guy, I suppose. All quite plausible, I should imagine. Apart from Redford and Dunaway, this movie floats on the acting performance of Max von Sydow, the traditional European psychopathic bad guy.

Furthermore, the movie neatly mixes violent action scenes (the one with the mailman is great!) with moments of rest (many of the romantic scenes with Redford and Dunaway), allowing us to breath. At the same time, this exchange of action and rest is probably the reason why I didnâ??t clench my fists as often as I would have liked.

I also thought the music tended to be too light and cheerful whenever grim, suspenseful sounds would have been more in order. On the whole, though, this is a very good movie that deserves a place in the cinematic top charts.