I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Strong and Moving!

A different way of telling a story

******SPOILER******Throughout the entire film the story and Leames's depressed topcoat and Nan's undecided despair love against him are moving in a straight line. The end is so natural, this film could not be considered another ending.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold has been heralded as the best Cold War spy movie. I often find those movies confusing, so forgive me if my plot teaser seems a little muddled. Then again, the movie is supposed to be a little confusing, so I don't feel that bad.Richard Burton is a British agent during the Cold War who's sent to East Germany. He's supposed to pretend he's been disgraced and is defecting, but that's just a ruse in order to infiltrate the bad guys and gain information. I was confused just by that, and that was only the beginning! The rest of the film has twists and turns, complications, characters you're not sure if you can trust, facts that might turn out to be lies, and above all, a depressingly bleak black-and-white ambiance.This is definitely a man's movie, or for girls who don't confuse easily and actually like spy movies. This isn't like a James Bond movie; there's no cheesy humor and no bikini clad babes. This is an understated drama, and when Burton isn't talking, he's silently seething like a bomb liable to explode at any moment. It's pretty intense.

"Alec Leamas" (Richard Burton) is a spy for the British who is given an assignment that involves implicating a high-ranking East German agent named "Hans Dieter-Mundt" (Peter van Eyck) for treason. Knowing that Mundt's subordinate, "Fiedler" (Oskar Werner) despises his boss the British cleverly concoct a plan which sends Alec under false pretenses straight to Fiedler with enough false evidence to have Mundt executed. But there are several variables which make the mission extremely perilous. Now, rather than give any more details and risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this movie captures the Cold War climate extremely well. Not only was Richard Burton nominated for an Academy Award for his performance but Oskar Werner also won a Golden Globe award for his performance as well. Further, the cinematographer (Oswald Morris) also won a BAFTA award for his work. Yet, in spite of all of these awards there were still some parts which were a bit too slow and dull which I felt lessened the film's overall effect. Accordingly, I rate this movie as slightly above average.

Short and sweet:1. Audience does not know what to expect from this movie, not at all means no emotional involvement which results in extremely boring movie although I kinda enjoyed the tribunal scene.2. The hero of the movie has no clear outer motivation nor a clear conflict, again a major contributor to a boring movie.3. Suppose we tolerate the first 2, this movie had absolutely no message, just a movie about a British agent tries to do his job which has not been well described possibly due to too much names in very short scenes of exposition.4. Talking heads movie, no upside down with minimal action. The worst part is that in most of the movie you don't know what they are talking about and still struggling with names due to cheesy exposition. It may be funny but for first 30 minutes you may not even realize that the story occurs in London not West Berlin.5. Plays are mostly theatrical rather than cinematic.6. I don't know what the writer/director taught of the very last scenes of the movie but it was as cheesy as it could get.My verdict? I struggled to stay awake and watch this movie without much needed interruption and I did but I did not like it and I do not recommend this movie to anyone,