The world of spies

The Lives of Others (2006)

The Lives Of Others portrays life under the stern gaze of the Stasi in Communist East Germany. We see a German playwright, Georg Dreyman writes an anti-government article after his friend commits suicide and is thus quietly put under surveillance. Told from the perspective of the Stasi official tasked with monitoring Dreyman, The Lives Of Others offers a truly grim glimpse into what it was like to be a spy during the Cold War, particularly if you didn't necessarily believe in the cause you had devoted your life to. Produced and directed in Germany, the film does away with Hollywood pretences at a happy ending and keeps it real, presenting the moral dilemmas and disillusionment of the people behind the Iron Curtain.

The Odessa File (1974)

Based on the bestselling novel by Fredrick Forsyth, the film gives us a peek into ODESSA, a network formed by former Nazis and SS officers to help them escape after the Second World War. The story follows Peter Miller, a young journalist as he tries to hunt down Eduard Roschan, an SS officer known as the Butcher of Riga. Thanks to the decade-long experience of Fredrick Forsyth as a journalist, the book as well as the film give us an authentic picture of the aftermath of Second World War, providing interesting tit-bits of knowledge about the Nazi underground networks that sprang up after the war.

Spy Game (2001)

Starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, Spy Game is the story of Tom Bishop, a CIA agent caught in China during a time when the US and China are about to sign a key trade agreement. If the CIA admits Tom is their agent, they risk jeopardising the deal. Hence, top bosses of the agency call on Nathan Muir, the man who recruited Bishop, to give them some pretext for letting Bishop die. Muir however, has different plans. As Muir gives his superiors details of Bishops career in the agency, we learn of Bishop's tours of duty in Berlin, Bairut, and Hong Kong. It comes to light that Bishop was operating in China without permission from the CIA, and while the agency tries to dispose of him, Muir tries to save his old protege.

Jason Bourne (2016)

Some may like it, some may not, but what makes the film relevant is that it is set in the "post-Snowden world". We see that Bourne learns new information about his past and sets out to piece his own story together, but while doing so, comes across the CIA's attempt to build a mass surveillance programme on the Internet by secretly funding a social media startup. The film attempts to touch upon the debate regarding where the boundaries between privacy and safety and surveillance lie.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

Based on the novel of the same name by John Le Carre, the film takes us inside Britain's fabled external intelligence service, the MI6. In early 1970s, veteran spy George Smiley is brought out of retirement to investigate claims by a British agent that there is a Soviet mole deep inside MI6. Smiley discovers that a Soviet agent is passing supposedly high-grade Russian intelligence to the British in exchange of low-grade British intelligence, but suspects that the mole using the arrangement to pass the Russians genuine information. What tricks Smiley uses to expose the mole forms the crux of the film.

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Munich (2005)

A Steven Spielberg film dealing with Operation Wrath of God launched by Israel to hunt the Black September terrorists. The film takes us through the killing of Isreaeli athletes at Munich Olympics and details the planning and execution of Israel's response to the catastrophe. However, the film also ably addresses how violence becomes a vicious circle and consumes the lives and minds of those who engage in it. While he is successful in all his mission, leader of the Israeli team Avner Kaufman begins to fear retribution from the terror groups when a child is born to his wife. With the right mix of action and story, the film also gives us some food for thought.