I found this film hidden on the back shelf of my local video rental store. I had never heard of it but I got it anyway. We were having a girl's night in and we watched a few films. We watched 'Fried Green Tomatoes' and 'The Piano' and then we watched this movie. We really liked it. It's a low-budget film, but the acting is incredibly strong. We were impressed by Louise Albrechtsen's short cameo as the injured police woman. Whatever became of her? There are a few memorable monologues, one of the finest being Colonel Schnell's in the beginning of the film. A different man after 10 long years of imprisonment, his soliloquiy seeps out of the screen and into our hearts. But, certainly the greatest sequence is the injury, physical as well as psychological, to the agent (Jens Horstmann, in a stellar performance). In this scene, the agent is shot in the arm after a long and fateful battle. His following descent into hallucinations and madness are allegorical to his fall from glory, from being the greatest agent who ever lived to being simply mediocre. In the scene, which incidentally is completely without dialogue, Horstmann manages to convey the crumbling of his soul in such a convincing manner that no eyes are dry. The fact that there is no music, and the only sound is the agent's breathing for such a long scene, is proof of Horstmann's incredible acting skills.
I have since watched Agent 009 3/4, the prequel to this film. That film has a little more interesting plot but less of the human pathos. But the first movie is a little better than this one, simply because the simplicity of the story conforms better to the budget it was produced under. The sequel, this film, sadly tries to incorporate some satiric action elements, which exposes the low budget of the film. That said, this film is certainly one to look out for.