Counterpart, Season 1
(Starz, 2017-2018)
The premise is beguiling—a cold war waged not between nations but between diverging multiverse iterations of the same nation. We’re given murk and intrigue. Actors play disparate versions of themselves. At season’s end, however, all remains predictably abstruse (pending a continuation).
Anna
dir. Luc Besson (2019)
One of Besson’s better films, albeit offering nothing new either to the genre or within his own oeuvre. Sasha Luss brings emotionally versatility to a role that shouldn’t require any, her performance elevating the nested-dolls Cold War plot-shuffling. Lera Abova also impresses.
Rocky & Bullwinkle: Jet Fuel Formula
serialised in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, Season 1, Episodes 1-20 (ABC, 1959-1960)
A fast, freewheeling, self-aware cliffhanger serial told across 40 three-minute segments. Bullwinkle the endearingly dim-witted moose and his guileless squirrel pal Rocky battle an equally hapless pair of Cold War spies. Clever allusions and mile-a-minute wordplay underpin the cheap but punchy animation.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
dir. Tomas Alfredson (2011)
This murky film adaptation of le Carré’s Cold War spy novel respects the viewer enough to tell its story as much by omission and implication as by direct exposition. The acting plays along, yet the tangle, once unravelled, remains self-serving and forgettable.
With a Strange Device
by Eric Frank Russell (Dobson, 1964)
Where Russell was renowned for humorous SF, this novel seems more in keeping with Cold War espionage stories (or within Russell’s spectrum, his early Fortean noir outings Sinister Barrier and Dreadful Sanctuary), and maintains its intrigue even upon second or third reading.
The Game
created by Toby Whithouse (BBC, 2014)
A cleverly twisted, cagily acted, utterly engrossing but ultimately nonsensical Cold War spy drama in which a special team within MI5 work to unravel Russian misdirection and foil a game-changing espionage plot that they only become aware of due to said misdirection.
The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception
by John Mulholland (Unpublished, 1953)
ed. H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace (Hardie Grant, 2010)
Although the editors try to spruik the significance of two instructional manuals commissioned from magician John Mulholland by the CIA during the Cold War, closer inspection reveals the most interesting facet of these works to be that they were written at all.
Foyle’s War, Series 8
by Anthony Horowitz (ITV, 2015)
A concluding trio of diligently researched, well-realised feature-length mysteries set within and inextricably bound to English society (originally during, now) post- World War II. Michael Kitchen remains facially expressive as Foyle, working for MI5 amidst the early machinations of the Cold War.
Despicable Me
dir. Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud (2010)
Amidst a glut of animated films, Despicable Me is one of the few that remain consistently funny and engaging. Gru, the ingeniously drawn and distinctively voiced (by Steve Carell) Cold War -styled supervillain, is one of the great characters of modern cinema.
Bobby Fischer Against the World
dir. Liz Garbus (2011)
Replete with archival footage, this layman’s documentary cogently examines and contextualises both American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer’s 1972 (cold war) world championship match against Boris Spassky, and Fischer’s unstable genius, which drove him firstly to success, then to reclusiveness and abject derangement.