SYNOPSICS
The Tamarind Seed (1974) is a English,Russian movie. Blake Edwards has directed this movie. Julie Andrews,Omar Sharif,Anthony Quayle,Dan O'Herlihy are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1974. The Tamarind Seed (1974) is considered one of the best Drama,Romance,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
While on vacation in Barbados to recover from the lingering effects of a love affair that ended badly, Judith Farrow (Dame Julie Andrews) meets Feodor Sverdlov (Omar Sharif), a handsome Russian. They find pleasure in each other's company as they visit colorful places on the island, but there are complications to their budding romance after their vacation in the tropical paradise comes to an end. Problems arise due to geopolitical concerns of the Cold War, for Judith is the assistant to an important minister serving in the British Home Office in London, and Feodor is the Soviet air attaché assigned in Paris to Soviet General Golitsyn (Oskar Homolka). British Intelligence Officer Jack Loder (Sir Anthony Quayle) suspects that Sverdlov is attempting to recruit Judith to work as a Soviet spy, and this is in fact what Feodor tells his boss that he is attempting to accomplish. Feodor tells Judith that this is a way for him to be able to see her without bringing about suspicion from his ...
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The Tamarind Seed (1974) Reviews
Mature, sober look at human side of the Cold War
I liked this one very much. Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif bring a very sober and realistic screenplay to life about real human beings involved/kept apart by the Cold War. I very much liked the Julie Andrews character who doesn't fear speaking about morality to a Communist likely to scoff, nor fear falling for that Communist with ehr eyes wide open, despite all the difficulties that would bring. Julie Andrews is just wonderful in this role - rather lonely, quite real, with warring feelings between head and heart about caring for someone who is dangerous to know - and in his work, dangerous to the Free World. Omar Sharif is excellent - charming, quick-witted, falling for Andrews (and who wouldn't - she looks fantastic) despite himself, and finally making the life-changing decision to defect. I can understand why some find the movie plodding - it certainly is by most spy movie standards. But it's trying to do something different - and admirably succeeding - one just feels the existence of the Iron Curtain here, and one feels the Andrews character making her point that at the heart of the Cold War are questions about the value to be given an individual human being by the state, the value of truth as capturing measurable facts, the value of allowing people to live by their own goals and values rather than those determined by the state. And the over-arching question is an interesting one of emotional involvement despite world tensions. You'll like its gradual unfolding - just don't look for James Bond.
UNDERRATED SPY FILM, QUITE GOOD
Blake Edwards' "The Tamarind Seed" falls into the "lost" category, more specifically the era spanning 1968-1974, when Edwards released a series of films, ranging from good to great, that died a bloody box-office death. That doesn't mean that any of these films were bad. You can't account for audience taste. Anyway, "The Tamarind Seed" is a different film for Edwards: an international spy thriller. I think the reason for the film not being well received by the public was that Edwards was stereotyped as a comedy director. Indeed, many of his best films ("10", "S.O.B.", "Victor/Victoria", and "The Pink Panther Strikes Again") are in this genre. But during this period, Edwards made many fine straight films such as "Experiment in Terror", "Darling Lili", "Wild Rovers", "The Carey Treatment" and "Gunn". These films are lost today, thanks to clueless studio executives who didn't know how to market them and the clueless moviegoers who stayed away in droves. Lucky for us, cable TV still remains the forum to catch some of these lost treasures (except "Gunn" which seems lost forever) and AMC has been playing "The Tamarind Seed" frequently. Early video copies distributed by Magnetic Video and Embassy Home Entertainment still exist in used video stores around the country. Now, about the film itself. Edwards has crafted a pretty skillful thriller here. Spy movies often die a quick death because most directors think they have to be either T&A fests or relentlessly talky. What makes the Bond films so much fun is that there's a sly sense of humor and Edwards understands that. But Edwards maintains a smooth control over his material here and doesn't play this material for monster laughs (rightly).This is a real good story, which I will not reveal, because the film's success is dependent on Edwards' surprises. The acting is great (with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif in the lead roles, how could it be bad?), the cinematography (by the great Freddie Young in Panavision)is dazzling as it would be from that great talent, and the script gets involved enough in the story that we can follow it without getting confused. "The Tamarind Seed" is very much worth the effort to find. Once you see it, it will be hard to forget it. **** out of 4 stars
Good Old-Fashioned Fun
"The Tamarind Seed" is a wonderful film to discover for the first time in the video store when you're searching for something good to watch. Made at a time when negative depictions of the Soviet Union had fallen out of favor in the movies, "The Tamarind Seed" wonderfully bucks this trend as Russian embassy Colonel Omar Sharif ultimately comes to realize that the nature of the Soviet system makes some things worse than treason against it. Julie Andrews is at her most beautiful as a British Home Office employee who first meets Sharif on vacation in Barbados, falls in love with him and helps him defect.
Sophisticated and beautiful Cold War romantic thriller
It's been years since I saw this film so have forgotten many of the plot details, but this beautiful romance has lingered in my mind for three decades. It's a movie with everything...intriguing suspense thriller plot, beautiful exotic Caribbean setting, and especially of course the compelling love story of two sympathetic characters from opposite sides of the Cold War. The tale begins with a British Home Office assistant, Judith Farrow, who has gone to Barbados to recover from a failed love affair. During her tropical holiday, she meets Feodore Sverdlov, a handsome Soviet air attaché in Paris. They visit the colorful island sights together and fall in love. This paradise romance is, however, complicated by their respective positions with governments on opposite sides of the Cold War. Thus, these two individuals of integrity are forced into deception (alleged spy recruiting) in order to disguise their relationship. Perhaps Sverdlov will even be inspired toward defection? Above all, their ill advised love can only spell danger. For me, this movie is made memorable by its two stars, Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. This is my absolute favorite Julie Andrews film. She is at her most radiant here portraying Judith, a beautiful, intelligent, lonely, vulnerable, yet quietly strong woman. She is quite magnificent in her role even without the usual musical aspects. Omar Sharif plays surely Russia's most magnetic, handsome, and compelling diplomat. His dark brown eyes alone would thaw the Cold War! It is absolutely believable that these two principled, intelligent individuals would fall in love. They are perfect on screen together, mature yet captivating. The film reflects its era, with the dominance of Cold War issues the subject for most plots involving international intrigue. Here, however, the Russian star is refreshingly not the enemy or the villain of the piece, but rather instead its romantic, noble, and conflicted hero. The pair reveal their own moral views, sometimes contrary to their country's official positions. Julie Andrews appeared earlier in Torn Curtain, the 1966 Hitchcock Cold War thriller which also starred Paul Newman, but I much preferred this movie since it focuses more on character portrayal and romance. No, not a James Bond action adventure or a spy thriller really, more rather an exotic and dangerous romance with some intricate, suspenseful plot details. A high recommendation for this wonderful old fashioned movie...a perfectly cast, touching & intelligent jewel, and a film which unfortunately appears to be little known these days.
This one has it all.
This movie is not highlighted in any discussion of the careers of either Julie Andrews or Omar Sharif, but it's a jewel. It has romance (the subtleness of which is very effective without constant bedroom scenes), intrigue, espionage, exotic locations, a multi-layered plot and plenty of suspense. You do have to pay close attention to keep up with the rather complicated story, but it pays off. The '70's clothing and hair styles are amusing, and the Russians are no longer the "bad guys," but those facts don't detract from the great storyline. Andrews and Sharif make a very attractive couple, and play their parts perfectly. In fact, everyone turns in a fine performance in this, one of my favorite movies.