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The Russia House

1990 · 118 min

A slow-burning, talky spy drama where moral ambiguity and a quiet love story simmer beneath the Cold War tension.

Directed by
Fred Schepisi
Genres
Drama, Thriller, Romance
Starring
Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy Scheider
Tagline
Their love was as dangerous as the secrets they kept.
Overview
Barley Scott Blair, a Lisbon-based editor of Russian literature who unexpectedly begins working for British intelligence, is commissioned to investigate the purposes of Dante, a dissident scientist trapped in the decaying Soviet Union that is crumbling under the new open-minded policies.

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Stream in the UK
  • Amazon Prime Video
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
Fred Schepisi
Genres
Drama, Thriller, Romance
Starring
Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy Scheider
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • romanticstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • politics
  • betrayal
  • love
  • morality
  • conspiracy
Places
  • big city
  • single country house
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror1
Humour2
Realism8
Romance6
Tension6
Darkness5
Complexity7
Emotional weight6

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Where to watch in the UK

Stream
  • Amazon Prime Video
Free
  • YouTube Free
Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, thriller, romance
Directed by
Fred Schepisi
Written by
Tom Stoppard
Starring
Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy Scheider, James Fox, John Mahoney, Michael Kitchen, J.T. Walsh, Ken Russell
Music
Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography
Ian Baker
Runtime
118 min
Country
United States of America, Soviet Union
Languages
English, Russian

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