OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (
OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions) is a 2006 French satirical film lampooning Connery-era
James Bond films and the French '50s political context. Jean Dujardin plays Hubert, a.k.a. OSS 117, a French secret agent sent to Cairo to investigate the mysterious disappearances both of another OSS agent and a ship full of illegal weaponry. His prowess in hand-to-hand combat and seduction is matched by his bumbling stupidity and utter ignorance of Muslim culture.
Based on a not-at-all satirical series of spy novels. Followed by a sequel,
OSS 117: Lost in Rio.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies provides examples of the following tropes:
- Affectionate Parody
- Ambiguously Gay: Played for comedy. 117's fond recollections of his time with his old buddy are cartoonishly homoerotic. He also has an overly disgusted reaction to the thought of two men having sex, which suggests that he's "protesting too much."
- Animated Credits Opening
- Bad Boss: Muller. "I told you to shut up."
- Becoming the Mask: 117 quickly becomes more interested in raising chickens than in being a spy.
- Black Bra and Panties: Ladies and gentlemen, Berenice Bejo.
- Blasting It Out of Their Hands: 117 to the princess toward the end. His second shot, however...
- Call Forward: "Egypt will have peace for centuries to come."
- Cat Fight
- Character Title
- Clothing Damage: Larmina and the princess during the Cat Fight.
- Dead Partner: OSS 117 is investigating the disappearance of his partner Jack Jefferson, who's believed to have been murdered.
- Distracted by the Sexy: 117 overpowers, undress (to her undies) and ties up a woman in the Eagles of Kheops lair (Larmina); when he opens the door, three Mooks stop him, then stare at the barely-dressed pretty woman behind him. Also works on 117, who is clearly enjoying the Cat Fight by the end too much to actually do something to stop it.
- The Ditz: The hero.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: 117's handgun. It has a great coefficient of penetration...
- Dramatic Curtain Toss: Parodied; Moeller attempts this, but only manage to rip off a piece of the swatiska-adorned curtain.
- Driving a Desk: Done deliberately as part of the homage to old Bond flicks.
- Everything's Better with Chickens
- Fascinating Eyebrow: Jean Dujardin had a lot of fun with this trope.
- Going by the Matchbook: Subverted. 117 completely fails to comprehend an important clue in a matchbook.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Both the dagger bottle and bottle as bludgeon are used during the fight in the hotel room.
- Hair Reboot: 117 passes a hand over his bed-head and his hair is instantly styled.
- Historical In-Joke: 117 recently arrived from Algeria, comes to Cairo to deal with the Suez Canal Crisis, and at the end of the movie he's heading to French Indochina. Historically, all three situations were massive setbacks for France.
- Hollywood Darkness: All night scenes are shot on sunny days with a blue filter, in keeping with the parody of 1960s filmmaking.
- Idiot Hero: And racist, too.
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: "Now, princess, you're going to tell me exactly what—" (shoots)
- Insult Backfire: After 117 makes a particularly ignorant statement, his love interest remarks, "You are very French." He takes it as a compliment.
- Lysistrata Gambit: Works even with women who are trying to kill him.
- Monochrome Past: The 1945 intro.
- Neck Snap: 117 to Setine (the Soviet agent).
- Not so Different: Muller and OSS have the same fond memories about their respective friends.
- Overly-Long Gag: The way 117 chases the villain down the streets of Cairo, pausing dramatically at every single intersection to glance around, then dashing decisively off in one direction... and ultimately getting lost.
- Politically Correct History: Completely averted.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: Subverted. Camera pans away from 117 and his lover, to a bouquet of roses on a table—and then to a mirror showing the two thrusting at each other, fully clothed. Whereupon the camera hastily pans back to the roses.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Lampshaded. "Blah blah blah. Funny how Nazis are always the bad guys. Hello, OSS 117? We are in 1955. Can we have a second chance? Thanks!"
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Parodied. At the end of the movie, 117 is clearly more interested in watching the dramatic fireworks than kissing.
- Video Credits
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Moktar, the Genre Savvy Mook: "You should tie him, colonel."
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