Review of Callan

The spy genre saw a (British-led) backlash in the mid-/late-1960s against the 'James Bond-led' type of upper class, super-human, perfect being spies and attention being paid in literature ("The spy who came in from the cold") and film (the Harry Palmer films) to a much more realistic portrayal of who spies were and what they actually did (often grubby little men working in atrocious conditions and for minimal recompense). In addition to literature and film, I can recall seeing the original "Callan" series on TV and of being very impressed by it. As portrayed by Woodward, Callan really was a working class thug (ex-army/ex-offender/borderline alcoholic and capable of great viciousness) doing the most unglamorous kinds of things in order to "take care" (with threats, blackmail, entrapment and, ultimately, 'termination') of people his superiors ordered him to. At the same time, Woodward gave the character a real human side who often displayed pity and empathy for his victims and who refused to turn into just the simple killing machine his masters wanted. I thought this film (which I had never seen before and found on some TV network being broadcast between 1.00 and 3.00 AM!) caught all of this very well. It was made at a time of great violence/almost seeming social melt-down (IRA bombing campaigns in Britain, the never-ending "Troubles" in Ireland, terrorism across much of Europe, the PLO terrorist attacks across the world. the Vietnam War staggering towards its bloody (and probably inevitable) end) and there are a number of places in the film where issues of direct relevance for today are also addressed (where to draw the line between 'enhanced interrogation' and outright torture, what are the limits of surveillance, how far can people 'follow orders' and still stay human?) An exciting film to watch but also one with a lot more to offer as well.