Month: October 2019

Political Thriller Week: ‘The Lives of Others’

Jeff Mitchell

“The Lives of Others” –  Despite popular belief, the U.S.A. does not corner the market on all political thrillers, and a perfect example is Germany’s absorbing and twisty “The Lives of Others”, which won the 2007 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The year is 1984, before the Berlin Wall came down, and not only do East Germans feel generally oppressed, but it’s not safe for them to converse freely in the comfort of their homes either.  The government could be listening. This is exactly what playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch)…

Political Thriller Week: ‘In the Line of Fire’

Jeff Mitchell

AHFW’s Political Thriller Week is firing on all cylinders on Day 2 with director Wolfgang Petersen’s “In the Line of Fire” (1993).  Secret Service Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) is still rattled with guilt after President Kennedy’ assassination in 1963, and it’s 30 years later, and a new threat grabs his attention and thoughts of the past.  Eastwood plays an even mix of machismo and vulnerability that lies in the center of the film’s emotional core, and while he is perfectly cast as the troubled protagonist, John Malkovich’s creepy, loner turn…

Political Thriller Week: ‘No Way Out’

Jeff Mitchell

Washington D.C. is up in arms with an ongoing scandal, and AHFW is not taking a side, but it is a very topical theme at the moment.  So, we’d thought we’d look back at four of our favorite political thrillers! Kevin Costner burst on the scene with two movies in 1985:  “Fandango” and “Silverado”.   Apparently, films ending in “o” were big that year.  Didn’t Hollywood release “Jello”, “Figaro” and “Oreo” in 1985 as well?  Mmm….perhaps not. Anyway, in “No Way Out” (1987), Costner plays U.S. Navy Lieutenant Tom Farrell, and…