Review of Torn Curtain (1966) by James C — 28 Apr 2008

Perhaps the most gnostic of Hitch's films; it appears to be a rather simplistic cold war story about an American going behind the Iron Curtain to wrestle nuclear secrets, but as in the film the ordinary-looking bus only appears to be an ordinary looking bus.

There's something else going on, to do with the fire of spirit descending into a cold materialistic universe, gaining gnosis (knowledge) embodied in the solitary fallen ego (Lindt) and then escaping again into a world of warmth and togetherness.

The film doesn't stint on showing how low you might have to go and how brutal the world can get (the extended killing of Gromek of course, but also notice the war-wrecked cities outside the Stasi office window) but - in disguise, hidden beneath grey blankets and within costume baskets, you can get yourself out again.

Mind-bogglingly esoteric stuff! Remember - every trapped aristocrat need a sponsor...