This post contains spoilers for "Three Days of the Condor" and its remake.
Sydney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor" is a natural by-product of post-Watergate America. The looming shadow of this political scandal haunts and defines the 1975 film, fleshing out everything from its overtly cynical impulses to the paranoia-inducing events that guide this effective spy thriller. Based on James Grady's eponymous novel, formerly known as "Six Days of the Condor," the film dives right into the distrust
embedded in American society, viewed through the lens of a bookish CIA agent marked for death by shadowy agents who are impossible to track down.
The CIA agent in question is Joe Turner, codenamed Condor (Robert Redford), who is seen working covertly at a so-called literary society, marking encrypted books that might or might not contain hidden messages. After Condor leaves for lunch and returns, he finds all of his co-workers dead, kickstarting a tense, anxiety-inducing journey for our effortlessly cool protagonist.
Just when Condor thinks he can rely on the organization he works for, he is met with a rather rude awakening. All of a sudden, Condor finds himself trapped in a world where no one is worthy of trust, where every choice comes attached with a morality that demands radical redefinition. The fierce, plucky Kathy (Faye Dunaway) manages to establish some trust along the way, helping Condor get to the bottom of this dastardly conspiracy and soothing his paranoia to an extent.
It is also interesting to note that Redford's signature charm creates expectations of a seasoned undercover agent adept at fieldwork, but he plays against this stereotype by presenting Condor as a man who would rather be left alone. After all, the character isn't an expert marksman or fighter, but more of a nerd who is passionate about decrypting clues hidden in books. His continued survival has more to do with luck than skill, which immediately makes "Three Days of the Condor" a taut, refreshing spy thriller that doesn't paint its lead as heroic or exceptional.
Given how effective Pollack's thriller is, it isn't surprising that the film got the remake treatment in the form of the Epix television series, "Condor." However, "Condor" only lasted for two seasons before being abruptly canceled by the network. What happened here?
Read more: 15 Best Movie Plot Twists Of All Time, Ranked
Condor Is A Criminally Underrated Remake Of Pollack's Celebrated Crime Thriller
Pollack's 1975 thriller is pretty well-known (it even got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing), and anyone who revisits it will only find more thematic layers worth unpacking. Todd Katzberg and Jason Smilovic's "Condor" capitalizes on this timeless component, where the episodic format becomes the perfect vehicle for exploring the slow-burn suspense/anxiety that accompanies a paranoid thriller.
In this iteration, Condor (Max Irons) is no puzzle-loving bookworm, but an idealistic tech expert who analyzes data for a CIA-mandated software — this recontextualization makes sense, and frankly, serves "Condor" well. The series also takes much more liberty when it comes to the source material, filling in the blanks while constantly updating context to refashion the story for a postmodern lens.
Season 1 of "Condor" is, in many ways, perfect. It introduces Turner's profession with reasonable doubts, as he realizes that his talents are being used for covert espionage operations that have little to do with saving civilian lives. However, these skills end up thwarting a biological attack in a DC stadium, which prompts Condor to snoop into matters that aren't meant to be uncovered by his department. This inevitably leads to the murder of his coworkers, forcing Condor to do everything in his power to uncover the truth. "Condor" makes the intelligent decision to offer its titular antagonist a choice: he has to decide whether he will make a change from within or use his rogue status to his advantage to unmask government conspiracies.
You would expect a tech expert working for the CIA to be more morally ambiguous than the average person, but Condor sincerely believes that no lives are disposable. This is in direct conflict with the organization's policy to eliminate folks branded as liabilities, which creates a compelling tension throughout the story. Unfortunately, "Condor" was short-lived despite official plans for a third season, as its original network, Audience, ceased operations in 2020 (the second season was already filmed by this time). Epix picked up the existing two seasons right after, but "Condor" couldn't find any means to continue, and had to end with season 2.
If you love Pollack's adaptation, or are looking for a fresh, intriguing crime thriller for a binge-watch, "Condor" is a great choice that won't leave you disappointed.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
