OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

The French spy comedy OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) marks the feature directorial debut of Michel Hazanavicius. Pre-credits, we see Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath (OSS 117) and his friend Jack Jefferson take over a Nazi plane and recover stolen V2 plans during a black and white scene titled ‘BERLIN 1945’. The film then transitions to Rome, several years later, where de La Bath is in a hotel room with Egyptian Princess Al Tarouk who gives him an envelope to deliver to his superiors in Paris. In Paris, de La Bath is shown photos depicting Jack’s death from the envelope. This triggers flashbacks between the two friends in happier times. De la Bath is then sent on a mission to Cairo by his superiors to investigate both Jack’s death and the disappearance of a cargo ship’s load of weapons.

Upon arriving in Cairo, de La Bath is greeted with news of the upcoming Suez Crisis and the troublesome actions of a fundamentalist group called the ‘Eagle of Keops’. He is immediately thrown into action when an OSS agent named Jack Jefferson and a Soviet cargo ship disappear. Disguised as a poultry wholesaler, de La Bath is tasked with unraveling this mystery. As the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that de La Bath and Jack have a shared history, which is revealed through flashbacks and a brief opening sequence. In Egypt, he meets Larmina, his contact who was once associated with Jack and is also an OSS operative. At an embassy party, Larmina introduces him to three livestock businessmen: Moeller, Pelletier, and Setine. However, amidst the festivities, a British spy tries to pass on information about Jack’s whereabouts before being killed by an unknown assailant who manages to escape before de La Bath can catch them.