Eye of the Needle (1981)

Name: Eye of the Needle
Director: Richard Marquand
Genre: Romance, Thriller, War
Released: 1981-07-24
Duration: 1 h 52 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Stephen MacKenna, Philip Martin Brown

R | 112 min | Romance, Thriller, War

A ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.

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7.1/10
9,610

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61 Metascore

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Cast & Crew

Top Billed Cast

Donald Sutherland

Faber
Stephen MacKenna

Lieutenant
Philip Martin Brown

Billy Parkin
Kate Nelligan

Lucy
Christopher Cazenove

David
George Belbin

Lucy's Father
Faith Brook

Lucy's Mother
Barbara Graley

David's Mother
George Lee

Constable
Arthur Lovegrove

Peterson
Colin Rix

Oliphant
Barbara Ewing

Mrs. Garden
Chris Jenkinson

German SS Officer
William Merrow

German Radio Operator
Patrick Connor

Inspector Harris

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Awards

1 nomination.

Reviews & Commentary

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User Reviews

21 July 2002 | unclepete

Gripping stuff

This film really does deserve more merit than it seems to get.

Sutherland is a bit odd, with most of all a bizarre accent that almost seems to change from scene to scene. Whilst this is perhaps expected from an international spy in deep cover, it doesn't seem to sit well.

Nelligan steals the show with a wonderful performance, but the real surprise for me was Cazenove. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see him as the newly qualified, sparkling eyed flyboy, but his portrayal of the embittered, loveless amputee was a joy to watch - clearly a talented man.

The film wraps up a great story with wonderful acting, a great collection of WW2 military hardware and breathtaking scenery. Well worth a watch.

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The meaning and relevance of this film's title "Eye of the Needle" is that it is a reference to the eye of the stiletto blade that Nazi spy Henry Faber uses to kill his enemies. The needle of the title is in this case a metaphor for the stiletto blade. The title represents a slight reworking of the wording of and an allusion to, the aphorism "Eye of a Needle". The eye of a needle is the top part of a needle (opposite to the prick or point) which has an oval loop made for thread, the circular oval shape being a metaphor for an "eye."

Quotes

Faber: Singvogel. Hier ist die Nadel. Kommen.

Goofs

Donald Sutherland is seen riding a motor bike registration LSP93 issue in Fife in 1954 but the film is set in 1944.

Alternate Versions

NTSC DVD R1 and PAL DVD R2, have different endings. European PAL DVD version ending is approx. 1.5 minutes longer. In the last scene, the helicopter arrives and lands, there is a conversation with the commander about the radio transmission being interrupted and finally the child arrives and reunites with his mother. it's sort of a happy end. This ending was cut from NTSC DVD version.