This was a well-produced documentary which included interviews with eyewitnesses who knew and recalled the notorious British intelligence agent and journalist Kim Philby, who passed secrets to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.
Some of those interviewed had difficulty maintaining their British reserve in their implied contempt for the British officials who allowed Philby to continue his spy activities undetected for years. Moreover, the program suggested that the British power elite may have even welcomed his escape a freighter from Beirut to the Soviet Union, where he lived out his life as a token, though marginalized, Soviet hero.
A shortcoming of the program was the lack of attention of the damage actually done to both British and American intelligence, due to the shenanigans of Philby. There was only one instance where the loss of life occasioned by Philby's duplicity was mentioned.
On the other hand, the filmmakers truly capture the essence of Philby as a cunning alcoholic, who used his booze-infested persona in his slippery spy games. Another facet of his character was his womanizing, which included the shabby treatment of her ex-wives, one of whom died a tragic death.
One of the most fascinating commentators was a post-socialist and former KGB agent, whose comments were filled with irony about Philby. The wily Russian contrasted the idealism of Philby whom he characterized as a "romantic" with the pragmatic Marxism of Brezhnev.
It had to have been a stunning personal defeat for Philby to spend his twilight years observing the era of stagnation in the Soviet Union and to experience up close the failure of the Soviet system. It was probably for this reason that Kim Philby spent the final part of his life holed up in his Moscow apartment, a recluse and disillusioned dreamer and a drunk.
Some of those interviewed had difficulty maintaining their British reserve in their implied contempt for the British officials who allowed Philby to continue his spy activities undetected for years. Moreover, the program suggested that the British power elite may have even welcomed his escape a freighter from Beirut to the Soviet Union, where he lived out his life as a token, though marginalized, Soviet hero.
A shortcoming of the program was the lack of attention of the damage actually done to both British and American intelligence, due to the shenanigans of Philby. There was only one instance where the loss of life occasioned by Philby's duplicity was mentioned.
On the other hand, the filmmakers truly capture the essence of Philby as a cunning alcoholic, who used his booze-infested persona in his slippery spy games. Another facet of his character was his womanizing, which included the shabby treatment of her ex-wives, one of whom died a tragic death.
One of the most fascinating commentators was a post-socialist and former KGB agent, whose comments were filled with irony about Philby. The wily Russian contrasted the idealism of Philby whom he characterized as a "romantic" with the pragmatic Marxism of Brezhnev.
It had to have been a stunning personal defeat for Philby to spend his twilight years observing the era of stagnation in the Soviet Union and to experience up close the failure of the Soviet system. It was probably for this reason that Kim Philby spent the final part of his life holed up in his Moscow apartment, a recluse and disillusioned dreamer and a drunk.
