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The Russia House
- 103 statements
- 19 feature instances
- 9 referencing feature instances
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The Russia House | |
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TheRussiaHouse | |
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The Russia House is a 1990 film adaptation of the 1989 John le Carré spy novel of the same name, written by Tom Stoppard and directed by Fred Schepisi.It's 1988, and the Cold War is coming to an end. With Glasnost now allowing more open cultural exchanges between East and West, British publisher Barley Blair (Sean Connery) - a free-thinker, Russophile, and full-time drunk - takes the opportunity to attend a party thrown by some acquaintances in a country villa on the outskirts of Moscow. While charming the other guests with his radical philosophies and rhetoric, Blair attracts the attention of one of the guests - a mysterious Russian going by the nickname 'Dante' - who carefully observes Blair and later shares an enigmatic political discussion with him in private.Shortly afterwards, Dante sends his confidant and ex-lover Katya Orlova (Michelle Pfeiffer) to deliver a manuscript to Barley for publishing in the West. However the manuscript ends up falling into the hands of MI6, who quickly realize that it contains a complete breakdown of Soviet nuclear missile capabilities - revealing that the Russians are way behind on the Nuclear Arms Race. With no way to ascertain whether Dante or his manuscript are legit, MI6 operator Ned (James Fox) locates Barley and convinces him to go back to Russia and try to get in touch with Katya for some answers. Barley reluctantly agrees, travels to Moscow to meet with Katya, and quickly falls in love with her.Of course, things begin to go awry once MI6 passes the manuscript to the CIA. The Americans - seeing a golden opportunity to acquire critical Soviet secrets from Dante - quickly get involved in the affair, forcing Barley to make a choice between his new-found love for Katya and his loyalty to his own country.There was also a BBC radio adaptation of the book - that version starred Tom Baker as Barley.The film is notable for being the second (and last) US production to film in the Soviet Union itself before its collapse. | |
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| The Russia House / int_234fa9ba | type |
May–December Romance | |
| The Russia House / int_234fa9ba | comment |
May–December Romance: Imposed on Barley and Katya in the film, as a result of Dawson Casting with Connery. | |
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| The Russia House / int_33d5b7f2 | type |
Adapted Out | |
| The Russia House / int_33d5b7f2 | comment |
Adapted Out: Harry Palfrey, the book's narrator. He wouldn't get his screen debut until The Night Manager. | |
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| The Russia House / int_405f6f52 | type |
Recycled Soundtrack | |
| The Russia House / int_405f6f52 | comment |
Recycled Soundtrack: Jerry Goldsmith's main theme for the movie was originally written for Wall Street before he left the project due to Creative Differences (he didn't score that movie); he reused it in his score for Alien Nation but the music was thrown out. The third time was the charm. | |
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Happily Ever After | |
| The Russia House / int_41271766 | comment |
Happily Ever After: For Niki Landau anyway. For smuggling out the files, he gets £100,000 from MI6 and opens up a very successful business with it. He remains happily unaware of all the espionage that follows. | |
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| The Russia House / int_4a364781 | type |
Hidden Purpose Test | |
| The Russia House / int_4a364781 | comment |
Hidden Purpose Test: During Blair's spy training. | |
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| The Russia House / int_4e4f42be | type |
Love Confession | |
| The Russia House / int_4e4f42be | comment |
Love Confession: Barley's "Grown-up love" speech. It was even used in the trailer. | |
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| The Russia House / int_4f6cf75 | type |
Mirroring Factions | |
| The Russia House / int_4f6cf75 | comment |
Mirroring Factions: The crux of the story is that ordinary people of the USSR and the West are remarkable similar. The KGB are up to the same tricks as MI6 and the CIA. | |
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| The Russia House / int_6bcecad1 | type |
Make the Bear Angry Again | |
| The Russia House / int_6bcecad1 | comment |
Make the Bear Angry Again: Or rather, carry on as if he is still in the game. | |
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| The Russia House / int_6d167cf | type |
Good Needs Evil | |
| The Russia House / int_6d167cf | comment |
Good Needs Evil: A major recurring theme throughout the novel. Yakov's intelligence that the Russians' strategic nuclear capabilities are essentially a Paper Tiger should be wonderful news for "Fortress America", but as Sheriton cynically points out, America has an enormous, well-funded, and politically influential military-industrial complex that only justifies its existence with the assumption that the Soviets are capable as hell. | |
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| The Russia House / int_8797239c | type |
Bait-and-Switch | |
| The Russia House / int_8797239c | comment |
Bait-and-Switch: This priceless exchange during Barley's debriefing: | |
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| The Russia House / int_92d7976 | type |
You Keep Using That Word | |
| The Russia House / int_92d7976 | comment |
You Keep Using That Word: Katya will often use the word "convenient" when discussing whether or not she'll do something - for example, when Barley asks her to dinner the first time they meet, she responds, "It is not convenient." Wicklow suggests Katya really means to say "proper" instead, but when Barley brings it up the next time they meet, she disagrees. | |
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| The Russia House / int_934c7e38 | type |
Paper Tiger | |
| The Russia House / int_934c7e38 | comment |
Paper Tiger: The manuscripts state the entire Soviet weapons programme is in a state of disarray. Truth in Television by 1990. | |
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| The Russia House / int_aa0b5ae8 | type |
Covert Distress Code | |
| The Russia House / int_aa0b5ae8 | comment |
Covert Distress Code: When Dante needs to contact Katya, he calls her "Elina" if all is well, or "Maria" if he's in trouble. | |
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| The Russia House / int_bb40e7e0 | type |
Failed Future Forecast | |
| The Russia House / int_bb40e7e0 | comment |
Failed Future Forecast: Although written and set before the end, several characters allude and worry over the future if the cold war comes to an end. As one character puts it: | |
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| The Russia House / int_c5cc0783 | type |
Internal Retcon | |
| The Russia House / int_c5cc0783 | comment |
Internal Retcon: When the Shopping List falls into the hands of the KGB, the CIA puts out a rumor that the list was designed to be captured by the KGB, in order to misinform them about what the CIA does and doesn't know about the Soviet weapons program. Although we're not explicitly told whether this is the truth or a cover-up, it's strongly insinuated to be the latter. | |
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| The Russia House / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
| The Russia House / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: In the novel, when Nikki Landau is arranging to carry the book Katya gave him so it'll pass through the Soviet Union undetected, he sings the "Modern Major General" song. | |
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| The Russia House / int_d3422f70 | type |
Overt Rendezvous | |
| The Russia House / int_d3422f70 | comment |
Overt Rendezvous: Pretty much every meeting between Barley and his Russian contacts is done in a public place, out in the open, or in a crowd. | |
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| The Russia House / int_dc057cf3 | type |
Adaptation Name Change | |
| The Russia House / int_dc057cf3 | comment |
Adaptation Name Change: Yakov's codename "Goethe" is changed to "Dante" for the film. | |
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The Russia House |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
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Cacophony Cover-Up / int_8184b06e | |
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English Literature / int_8184b06e | |
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Everything Is an Instrument / int_8184b06e | |
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Fake Russian / int_8184b06e | |
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Films of 1990–1994 / int_8184b06e | |
| The Russia House | hasFeature |
Mad Lib Thriller Title / int_8184b06e | |
| The Russia House | hasFeature |
Overt Rendezvous / int_8184b06e | |
| The Russia House | hasFeature |
Recycled Soundtrack / int_8184b06e | |
| The Russia House | hasFeature |
Writing Indentation Clue / int_8184b06e |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.