by Anton Corbijn
Heavy smoker, heavy drinker and smart as a fox: Günther Bachmann is an old-school spy. Head of a German anti-terrorist unit, Bachmann has monitored the Muslim community in Hamburg since the Hanseatic city became regarded as a terrorist cell in the aftermath of 9/11. This is how, shortly after arriving, the Chechen immigrant Issa Karpov comes into Bachmann’s sights – particularly as he has come to secure his father’s fortune, which is stored in bank safes, and make dubious contacts. Unlike his colleague in the CIA, Bachmann sees Karpov as small fry. He wants to use the Chechen as a decoy to get at the mastermind of a large terrorist network... Director Anton Corbijn has adapted the novel of the same name by John le Carré to screen.