OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (French: OSS 117 : Le Caire, nid d'espions) is a 2006 French spy comedy film directed and co-written by Michel Hazanavicius in his feature directorial debut. Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, and Aure Atika, the film has been widely praised for its cinematography, editing, and score. Set in 1955, the film follows the exploits of a French secret agent, Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath/OSS 117, as he is sent to Cairo to investigate the disappearance of his best friend and fellow spy Jack Jefferson, only to stumble into a web of international intrigue. While set in Cairo most of the filming was done in Morocco. Hazanavicius' set pieces were carefully constructed and added to the movie's general level of geographic, as well as time period authenticity. The energetic fight sequences between Dujardin and his long cast of assailants, as well as a heart stopping catfight between the film's two leading ladies were meticulously choreographed. The movie is based on author Jean Bruce's fictional character Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, an American military officer of French descent, formerly employed by the Office of Strategic Services and then the CIA, who operates as a secret agent in France. OSS 117 reimagines the character as a French spy working for the French intelligence agency Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage. Bruce's original OSS 117 starred in over 265 novels and seven films through 1970 and while the films were presented as straightforward spy thrillers, OSS 117 acts as a parody of the spy genre and depicts OSS 117 as a Frenchman who is "culturally insensitive, chauvinistic, and thoroughly moronic...[but] somehow manages to slide through outrageously dangerous situations unscathed, time and again." often with great, if unintentional humor. A sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio, also directed by Hazanavicius and starring Dujardin, was released in 2009. A third installment of the series, OSS 117: From Africa with Love was released in 2021, directed by Nicolas Bedos.