Spyfall: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo and the Contemporary Spy Film

The 2012 incarnation of James Bond notwithstanding, the modern cinematic spy is more than a martini-sipping, gadget-toting Don Juan. Myke Bartlett identifies common ground among some very different spy archetypes, and considers the politics behind increased realism in espionage dramas.

Additional keywords: Skyfall, genre, stereotype, gender, Sam Mendes, Tomas Alfredson, Kathryn Bigelow, Ben Affleck.