Going through a spy thriller phase, Please recommend me some movies or series.

So I've watched Tinker Tailor soldier spy, Smilies People and just finished a respectable series called little drummer girl, also written by John La carre... I'm also aware of the spy who came out of the cold...

But if you recommend either movies of series in that genre that would be great, old or new

Thanks in advance....

 

You may enjoy 'Operation Mincemeat' on Netflix.

 

The Bureau Season 1-5 about the French Secret Service is just a few notches below "The Wire" as all time best series imo, and is as thoughtful, unnerving, rivals any LeCarre adaptations. Both the nuts and bolts of everyday espionage, as well as the long term consequences and costs of being deep undercover

 

James Bond series?

 

na, I like gritty and somewhat real.... but thanks anyway

 

ooh I will check that out... thanks

 

I recommend another Le Carré film adaptation: The Deadly Affair (1966) directed by Sidney Lumet. I saw it recently and thought it was great.

Another more recent Le Carré adaptation worth seeking out is the BBC mini series of The Night Manager (2016)

Also I second The Bureau recommendation, it is excellent.

 

The Sandbaggers, a British series from the late 70s, is also quite good. It shows a lot of the internal workings of an intelligence agency.

 

The old man.

 

The constant gardener.

 

Slow Horses, books and TV series?

 

Here's my vote for the Harry Palmer films with Michael Caine.

• The Ipcress File
• Funeral In Berlin
• The Billion Dollar Brain
The last one is a bit OTT, as it was a Ken Russell film!

Apaprently they's recently remade the property. Not sure if its a series of film/streaming/thingy. Or where it can be seen in the balkanized, gordian knot of modern entertainment

 

I was surprised how much I like Danger Man, especially the hour-long episodes beginning with season two. IMO, much better than American spy shows in the 1960s like Mission Impossible and Man From UNCLE. More realistic than the former. Some humorous spots, but not at all goofy like the latter. Unlike both, the endings can be quite surprising. The Brits seem to be better at the genre. Top it off with The Prisoner, of course.

 

What about The Americans?

 

The series on Apple TV + is excellent.

 

Agreement!

 

I don't have a film recommendation, but if you're into that sort of thing, check out the graphic novel series Queen & Country by Greg Rucka.

 

The prisoners is one of the best shows and is still relevant today.

 

I mean you may as well do the BBC 80s A Perfect Spy and the recent Night Manager if Le Carre adaptations are on the menu. I really liked the former - maybe less of a thriller per se, but very well done.

Mrs Primitivesludge was watching The Capture on BBC yesterday and if pacy mystery types are up your street, then that is recent and relevant. It didn't quite capture me, pardon the pun, but she liked it.

 

Night Manager is gets more intense as it goes along. One of the better LeCarre adaptations I think mainly because the story lent itself to cinematic expression. LeCarre's peak as a novelist was Honourable Schoolboy, which no one seems in a hurry to adapt. I hope they leave it alone unless they figure out how to tell the story. There's also not a lot of conventional action

 

I can't comment on the TV adaptations, since I've never seen them, but Ian Rankin's John Rebus novels will keep you busy (there are a lot of them) and very entertained for a long time. Lots of great obscure music references too (Richard & Linda Thompson among them). They're very much in real-time (characters get older, are promoted or passed over, etc.), so if you're going to tackle the series, start at the beginning and read them in sequence order.

 

Night Manager was superb. One of my old favorites, not Le Carre, but Frederick Forsyth, is the original filmed version of Day of the Jackal-- assassination plot and a cat and mouse with a brilliant hit man. Very satisfying. I'm sure there are more, but my brain warming up.

 

The Night Manager - I'll second (or third) this recomendation.
Berlin Station - I really liked S1 and S3, not so much S2.

 

Surprised no one mentioned Homeland. Was excellent when Damian Lewis was involved!

 

The Night Manager, fourthed or fifthed. Tom Hiddleston is pretty splendid in the lead role; haunted in just the right amount, and effortlessly charming and likable. Properly hateful villains, too.

For books, Alan Furst is a fantastic thriller writer with his novels primarily set in the years leading up to and during WW2 in Europe. Unlike a lot of thrillers, they’re suspenseful and tough but not bummers.