Regardless of how one criticizes the various components of this movie, I have to give this movie a high mark based on the unforgettable emotional impact it had on me as an artful creation. There are positive and negative commentaries on each component of the foregoing analysis depending on one's point of view, however just like a card game and the random nature of what comes up, this movie is what it is.......ie a novel portrayal of the nearly subjugated British way of life in a postwar funk. The unique and curious British culture and style which survived the Nazi attempt to abolish it, was now kicking and clawing to survive in the post WWII Cold War. Here we have a spy flick showing that inimitable British effort with the "real" workers in England, the lower middle and upper middle class... not the aristocracy, which was the style of portraying characters in British movies traditionally. Likable characters like Caine, and unlikeable ones representing the administrative and bureaucratic side of England's socialist leaning culture was a new adventure away from previous spy movies. The eerie and spellbinding Hungarian dulcimer instrument used throughout the movie's soundtrack added emotional impact which is forever impacted into my brain (not unlike the screeching violins during the Psycho shower scene.) By identifying with the skeptical and individualistic attitude of Caine's character, I seemed to empathize his torture experience far more than in other movies. The trigger phrase "Now listen to me" seemed to be a powerful simulation of brain washing technique and was used equally for same effect in "The Manchurian Candidate". Overall, "The Ipcress File" left a favorable impact on my psyche such that I am spellbound by watching many different scenes throughout the movie. The encounters with spying, his bosses, the women in his apartment, his cooking, his close calls, the torture scenes, etc. are not particularly earth shattering cinematic achievements, but rather the interesting likable character Caine portrays and the eminent danger and the mysterious music all came together to make this a very interesting and emotionally provocative art piece.
Review of The Ipcress File
