Dark Journey, Dishonored and The Sea Wolves

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stuart.uk
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Joined: January 21st, 2008, 12:25 pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland

Dark Journey, Dishonored and The Sea Wolves

Post by stuart.uk »

Spoiler

I watched Dark Journey for the first time right through the other day and found myself comparing it to both Dishonored and The Sea Wolves.

Dark Journey I found quite confusing for a first viewing. At first Vivien Leigh appeared to be a German agent, but as the film progrogressed it turned out she was a double-agent loyal to the Allies. I'm still confused about Vivien's male side-kick in the film that was murdered. I still don't know if he was a German or an Allied agent. In the film Vivien falls in love with a senior German agent Conrad Viegt, but when he discovers her true loyalies, she has to go on the run and make an escape. As it happens, he's captured by the British, after a failed attempt to catch Vivien. I'm also confused about the relationship. I got the impression despite the fact he loved her that Veigt would have done his duty, had her arrested and shot by a firing squad. In contrast she's mightilly relieved to discover he won't face a firing squad and waves hime a fond farewell.

In Dishonered, after being a heroic secret agent Marlene Dietrich helps enemy spy Victor McGalglen to escape. I'm not to sure McGlaglen cared a jote that Dietrich for her act of betrayal was shot by a firing squad.

In The Sea Wolves, real life British secret agent Gavin Stewart, as played brilliantly by Roger Moore, tells Barbara Kellerman, not realizing she's a German agent, that he's falling in love. However, after she brutally murders Trevor Howard and orders a failed assassination attempt on Moore, it becomes a kill or be killed situation for Moore and Kellerman. When other film buffs say Roger Moore, as James Bond, couldn't play it cruel, I tell them of the scene where he knifes Kellerman in the back just seconds before she intended to do the same for him
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JackFavell
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Re: Dark Journey, Dishonored and The Sea Wolves

Post by JackFavell »

I think in those first two movies, we are dealing with an ideal of what honor should be, especially for a man - a woman may let her feelings lead, but never a man. It's a stereotype I guess that we can't really understand now, with our mores and ideals changed so much since the 1930's.

I think Veidt (and maybe MacLaglen I can't remember) is duty bound, but still cares deeply for his counter agent Leigh. The man is supposed to do his duty, no matter how he may be suffering inside, and not show his true feelings (except to us the audience). We have a hard time with this because in our time no one suffers in silence anymore, quite the contrary we put it all out there for everyone and sometimes on TV in reality shows. Stoicism is not looked at as a good thing,anymore but as some form of repression.
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