THE EXECUTIONER
UK, 1970, 110 minutes, Colour.
George Peppard, Joan Collins, Judy Geeson, Nigel Patrick, Keith Michell, George Baker, Charles Gray.
Directed by Sam Wanamaker.
The Executioner is one of a number of well-made, interesting movies of 1969-70 on the disillusionment of spies. It uses a lot of the James Bond adventure and excitement but the mood is almost cynical. John Le Carre brought this trend to popularity with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and The Looking- Glass War (both effectively filmed) and Len Deighton introduced Harry Palmer's adventures with critical questioning in The Ipcress File. What emerges from films like this is that no matter how rugged and individualistic the hero thinks he is, he finally discovers that he is a pawn caught in the suave and quiet machinations of the Intelligence Controls in their offices. They are so all-powerful and all-seeing that they can estimate a man's reactions and so contrive situations that the individual thinks he is acting freely, but he is merely being anticipated in his actions and being used. It is hard to escape manipulation. And if so many are being manipulated, where does that leave freedom and conscience?
George Peppard does this kind of film without much trouble and here he is supported by a strong English cast.
1. What is the mod of this film? Sombre? Disillusioning? Did you find it entertaining? Why?
2. If you found the film disillusioning, what are the illusions that it shattered?
3. What kind of man was the hero? Why was he a spy? What were his good qualities, his bad? Was he loveless, tough, searching for his true self, patriotic, trying to be honest? How human was he? (How human can a secret agent be or afford to be?)
4. What do you think of the morality of spying after seeing this film - deception, sabotage, secrets, manipulation, murder?
5. Is there any basis for the 'God-like' stance taken by spies (masters and agents) concerning other lives, being executioners and finding later that they had made mistakes and should admit they were wrong?
6. The high officials are impregnable - why? They seem to think the rules don't matter as long as the game is good to watch.
7. What prospects are there at the end? Had he found himself? How far had he damaged his conscience by becoming an executioner?
8. How cynical do you find such spy stories? What impression of the inevitability of circumstances, control and unseen manipulation of lives and personalities do they give?
9. Was this a message film or merely an entertainment? Why?
