Obscure films found on Netflix steaming of never released on any home format.

[mkelley]

While as a general rule I *hate* subtitled films (even the classics like "Seven Samurai" -- I just hate bouncing back and forth between the bottom of the screen and what's onscreen) I have to say the absolute funniest film I've seen in the last couple of years (even over major releases) is the very obscure "OSS 117: Cairo: Nest of Spies".

This film has a somewhat complicated context -- apparently there was a series (or at least attempt to be serious) "OSS 117" spy series in the days of such things, and so this is a spoof on that. I'm guessing that, like this, was strictly a French film thing (and unlikely to ever be available for us to see) but you don't have to have seen that (or even know it) to appreciate this one. Just think "James Bond spoof" done right and you have it.

And this is done right -- how very much more clever this one is than all the obvious "Get Smart"/"Austin Powers"/"Man From UNCLE" stuff we Americans made. There are a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) things going on here (I particularly like the way all the women eye OSS117 whenever he walks through anywhere -- I was watching "Dr. No" last night and this was *exactly* what happened with Sean Connery. Only in this case OSS117 isn't all that handsome, and it happens with even men eyeing him :>).

It's perfect in every regard -- OSS117 is the perfect male chauvinist and also perfectly ignorant (and by that I don't mean he's stupid, not Max Smart stupid, nor even clueless like Inspector Clouseau. No, he's just supremely uncaring by how little he understands the world, because in his arrogant way he believe he understands just as much as he needs to -- he is, after all, white, male and French, so what more could anyone want?).

There is a sequel (also available on Netflix) but it's not as good (worth watching, but doesn't catch the lightning in the bottle that is this first effort and they try too hard in exactly the way the "Powers" films go wrong). I like this film so much I'm going to try showing it to some of my friends who feel about foreign language films the way I do -- this may be the exception that proves the rule.

Remember when you watch this the time frame -- this is set squarely in the 60's (although unlike the Powers stuff they don't hit you over the head with that. Indeed, that's the great charm about this sly effort -- they do everything so effortlessly you are liable to miss half the humor unless you pay careful attention).

In HD

(for some reason I can't get a link to the movie to post here, so look it up on your own).