Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
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"The Spy Who Went Into the Cold" from 2013 is the true story of the notorious Kim Philby, a Brit who spied for the Russians and eventually defected.There have been many books written about Philby, and one of the people interviewed is Phillip Knightley, who worked with Philby on The Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby. Also interviewed were his daughter, his widow, Rufina, and people who knew him.What emerges is the portrait of a man made of Teflon, an alcoholic, and a liar. He was one of the Cambridge Five double agents and is believed to have been most successful in providing secret information to the Soviet Union. The British apparently knew he was a spy but couldn't admit it to themselves; finally, in 1963, he was told that if he would confess and say he had never spied on the United States after 1949, the government would hush up the matter and exonerate him. Another meeting was set, but Philby defected to Russia, where he was given political asylum. Many think the British left that opportunity open, hoping he'd do it.He lived out the rest of his life in Russia, dying in 1988. The Russians didn't have much use for him and didn't allow him into the KGB building for many years, so he wasn't exactly treated as a hero until he died. They did consult with him on different matters.What happened to Philby once he arrived in Russia was that he saw the effects of the philosophy he had embraced so passionately - and realized it didn't work, that people were in poverty. The philosophy was a good one, but it wasn't carried out in the right way. Sure - everything sounds great on paper but once you get people involved, it doesn't work."The Spy Who Went Into the Cold" is an interesting look at a complicated man, denial, the good old boy network, and Philby's reality check. In the end, he got away with everything but paid a price in disillusionment, depression, and drink.
