''Spy Games'' (released in some countries as ''History Is Made at Night'') is a

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

film directed by

Ilkka Järvi-Laturi Ilkka Untamo Järvi-Laturi (28 November 1961 – 5 March 2023) was Finnish-born US-based film director whose best known film was ''Spy Games'' (1999) starring Bill Pullman and Irene Jacob. The film was shot in Helsinki, New York (state), New Yor ...

, and starring

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

Irène Jacob Irène Marie Jacob (born 15 July 1966) is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film ''The Double Life of Vero ...

, and

Bruno Kirby Bruno Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu Jr.; April 28, 1949 – August 14, 2006) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in ''City Slickers'', '' When Harry Met Sally...'', ''Good Morning, Vietnam'', ''The Godfather Part II'', and ' ...

. Written by Patrick Amos, the film is about a jaded CIA agent and a young and beautiful SVR agent fighting to save the world, their lives, and their secret love in post Cold War Helsinki. Filmed in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the movie incorporates elements of romance, action, and thriller genres. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 1999.

Plot

Harry (

) is a seasoned

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agent who is looking to forget his past and become his cover identity—a jazz club owner in

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

. Natasha (

) is a young, ambitious SVR (KGB) agent who is looking to secure a future for herself amidst the chaos of the new

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and her floundering intelligence agency. Originally assigned to spy on Harry, Natasha has fallen in love with the object of her spying, and her assignment has led to a torrid love affair between the two. Like all couples, they are keeping secrets from each other—but in their case, the secrets have international implications. Harry's life with Natasha is disrupted when a young, over-zealous CIA agent, Dave (

Glenn Plummer Glenn E. Plummer (born August 18, 1961) is an American film and television actor best known as Timmy Rawlins in '' ER'' (1994-2007), and Vic Trammel in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008-2009). Biography Plummer was born in Richmond, California. Career ...

), comes to Helsinki to intercept a videotape encoded with state secrets en route from

. The videotape's hidden code is so sensitive that those who come in contact with the tape are soon killed. Dave is pursuing the unsuspecting courier, a manic ex-bond trader named Max (

), who is unaware of what he is carrying. Max took the job by chance, following his recent prison term for stock market fraud. Natasha sees the videotape as a possible ticket out of the SVR and into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the American Dream. In fact, everyone involved except Harry is planning to exploit the encoded videotape. Harry's only plan is to prevent Natasha from getting herself killed—or worse, from leaving him for the U.S.

Cast

as Harry Howe / Ernie Halliday *

as Natasha Scriabina / Anna Belinka *

as Max Fisher *

as Dave Preston *

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He h ...

as Ivan Bliniak *

André Oumansky André Oumansky (born 15 August 1933) is a French actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 1958. Filmography References External links * 1933 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors ...

as Yuri *

Féodor Atkine Féodor Atkine is a French actor of Russian-Polish origin, born on 27 February 1948 in Paris. A screen performer, he has participated in numerous plays, films and television series in France and abroad. Life and career Féodor Atkine was born ...

as Romanov * Janne Kinnunen as Pekka * Linda Zilliacus as Maija (as Linda Gyllenberg) * Jevgeni Haukka as Slava *

Marcia Diamond Marcia Diamond (23 November 1925 – 12 February 2021) was a Canadian actress. Born in Calgary, Marcia attended school in Vancouver and participated in school broadcast over CBR. While at Northwestern University in Illinois in the 1940s, Marcia ...

as Lauren * Henry Saari as Porn Man * Louise Hodges as Porn Woman (as Louise Hodges) * Bob Sherman as CIA Elder * Kimmo Eloranta as Bodyguard *

Kati Outinen Anna Katriina "Kati" Outinen (born 17 August 1961) is a Finnish actress who has often played leading female roles in Aki Kaurismäki's films. Outinen was born in Helsinki. Having studied under Jouko Turkka during his "reign" of drama studies i ...

as Shopkeeper's Wife *

Kari Väänänen Kari Kyösti Väänänen (born 17 September 1953 in Ivalo) is a Finnish actor and director. Domestically he is a member of the Ryhmäteatteri group of actors. He was introduced to international audiences by Aki Kaurismäki, and belongs to the li ...

as Cabbie *

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

as Jazz Band Member

Production

Shooting locations included

and the

Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. Th ...

in Finland.

Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 1999, and opened in Finland on 22 October 1999. ''Spy Games'' was released on DVD in the United States on 11 July 2000.

References

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, spy_games, Spy Games 1999 films American spy films Films set in Helsinki American multilingual films Trimark Pictures films Finnish multilingual films Films shot in Finland 1990s American films 2000s American films