Other Titles • Eye of the Needle • Die Nadel (1981)
Synopses for Eye of the Needle (1981)
1.
Eye of the Needle is a superbly effective World War II spy thriller from the Ken Follett bestseller of the same name. Donald Sutherland is "the Needle," a German spy in England bearing critical information on Allied invasion plans that he must deliver personally to the Führer. He's so named because of his preferred method of assassination, the stiletto. As played by Sutherland, he's a coldly calculating psychopath, emotionlessly focused on the task at hand, whether the task is to signal a U-boat or to gut a witness to avoid exposure. On his way back to Germany, a fierce storm strands him on an island, occupied only by a woman (Kate Nelligan), her disabled husband, and the lighthouse keeper. A romance of sorts develops between the woman and the spy, due to an estrangement of affections between the woman and her husband, whose accident has rendered him emotionally crippled as well. Much of the suspense of the latter half of the movie has to do with this romance, and the way it begins to reveal the Needle's motivations and whether there's a sympathetic personality buried somewhere inside him, though he remains by-and-large tantalizingly enigmatic. Early on, we discover that he may not enjoy the hand life has dealt him. When a courier asks him about the way he lives, and "What else can one do?" the Needle answers, "One can just stop." But as the film makes amply clear in its final third, one doesn't stop, does one? The direction by Richard Marquand (known primarily for thrillers such as this one and Jagged Edge, although he also did Return of the Jedi) is crisply done, boasting numerous suspenseful episodes, including a deadly encounter between Sutherland and the disabled husband, which is jaw-droppingly surprising. --Jim Gay
2.
A German spy washes up on a small island off the British coast and is taken in by a lonely woman whose husband was paralyzed years ago and hardly speaks to her. Her desire for sex is immediately apparent to the equally lonely spy (Sutherland), who quickly seduces the wife and begins to plot his escape from the island so that he can report back to Germany with news about the impending D-Day invasion. Based on the best seller by Ken Follett, EYE OF THE NEEDLE was helmed by the director of RETURN OF THE JEDI and features an incredibly icy performance by Sutherland.
3.
"Romantic. Stirring. An Extraordinary Achievement!" - Andrew Sarris, Village Voice
Donald Sutherland (Outbreak), and Kate Nelligan (Up Close & Personal), ignite the screen as ill-fated lovers in this exciting emotionally involving thriller (New York Magazine). Based on the best-selling novel by Ken Follett, this searing mystery is a roller coaster ride of suspense, centering on the relationship between a master spy and a brave woman - with the fate of the world hangin in the balance.
Englishmen know him as Faber, but to the Fatherland, he's the loyal and lethal spy known as "The Needle". On his way back to Germany, Faber is shipwrecked on an island outpost where he befriends Lucy, a beautiful Englishwoman who lives there with her family. Lonely and scorned by her bitter, crippled husband, Lucy falls for the enigmatic stranger, not knowing that he's a traitor determined to prevent the D-Day invasion. But as their passion erupts, Lucy discovers the brutal truth - as love and war melt into an electryfing climax of eroticism, adrenaline and terror!
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