Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Why is "Three Days of the Condor" even more timely today?  Because of all that we have been through and what we know about the CIA and its clandestine activities that we did not know then.  

We have experienced 9/11 and skepticism increases over its causes and who put the plan into effect, much like those same questions being asked about the assassination of President Kennedy.

The reason why this film is even timelier today and can be better understood in a context better than three decades after its initial release is that we are much better informed about a major point discovered by Robert Redford, a book reader for the CIA who goes by the code name of Condor, is that there is an official CIA and another unofficial and very deadly CIA.  

Often the latter will superimpose itself on the former.  John Le Carre made the same point relative to MI5 and MI6 in British intelligence, their equivalents of America's FBI and CIA respectively.

Redford, working out of a New York office operating under the front of an historical society, leaves one afternoon to order and bring back lunch for himself and the rest of the crew.  After a little chitchat at the restaurant Redford returns to discover that everyone in the office has been fatally shot.

Just where does Redford go from there?  Redford explains on the phone to headquarters that he is no agent, and is just a research man who reads books and makes recommendations.  He hopes to be brought in before he meets with the same fate as his office colleagues.

A smooth and suave Cliff Robertson is Redford's contact operating out of the CIA's main headquarters in Langley, Virginia.  When it is arranged for a station chief to come to New York to "bring him in," more trouble ensues.  Redford has every reason to wonder if he has any allies left in "The Company" as he runs away from tragedy once more.

In an effort to secure at least temporary safety Redford kidnaps Faye Dunaway after she leaves a store where he has gone to temporarily hide from pursuers.  A professional photographer who lives in Brooklyn, Dunaway at first resists Redford, but ultimately becomes an ally when she realizes that he is telling the truth and his life is in danger.  

At one point Dunaway tells Redford that she is afraid to get to know him since he is not going to live very long.  He disagrees, telling her that sense of danger is a driving interest force within her toward him.  Ultimately they became romantically involved and she is willing to accompany him to Langley so she can render assistance in enabling Redford to confront Robertson.  

The film was released not long after Daniel Ellsberg became famous for leaking what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers.  In a fascinating twist at the end of the film, Redford uses the New York Times as a unique type of life insurance policy.

Some of the film's most dramatic scenes involve Redford and Robertson.  While Redford speaks on behalf of America's best instincts as he states the case for decency and accountability in government, Robertson sounds like Karl Rove as he states with unflinching coldness the proposition for secrecy and an "end justifies the means" mentality.

Sydney Pollack in his director's role keeps the pacing fast as befitting a spy mystery involving pursuers and pursued.  The camera work was magnificent.  Some of the long shots are particularly fascinating in displaying New York City and Washington D.C. as large cities in the midst of winter amid the tension of Redford's ongoing battle to survive.

Two prominent character actors render solid performances; John Houseman as a veteran CIA officer and colleague of Robertson's and Max Von Sydow as a contract assassin who performs his tasks with consummate professional detachment.

Seeing this film today prompts one to recognize that the dazzling symmetry generated, the ingredients of great filmmaking, makes the viewer aware that the camaraderie developed from knowing that something vital was being said and that the participants were proud to be a part of it.

Today America stands at a crucial crossroad.  One sees the country in a struggle that was depicted with such allegorical finesse and thematic decisiveness in "The Day of the Condor" over thirty years ago.

The forces of Bush, Cheney and Rove are on the march, seeking to implement the grand neoconservative design elucidated in The Project for the New American Century.  Cliff Robertson constantly tells Redford that opposition is useless and the grand plan for America's future, not to mention globally, is being indelibly and inevitably written.

Robert Redford was that voice in the wilderness imploring us to wake up before it is too late.  Are you listening Democratic congressional majority?