The Birdwatcher (2001)

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The collapse of Spain's fascist leadership in 1975 has unexpected repercussions elsewhere in Europe in this taut suspense drama. Charles Williamsen (Thom Hoffman) is an American who has come to the French Basque countryside to do research on birds. Charles meets a fellow traveler and bird… More The collapse of Spain's fascist leadership in 1975 has unexpected repercussions elsewhere in Europe in this taut suspense drama. Charles Williamsen (Thom Hoffman) is an American who has come to the French Basque countryside to do research on birds. Charles meets a fellow traveler and bird enthusiast, Miranda Fernandez (Ines de Medeiros), who is from Spain and whose father is an advisor to Franco. Charles and Miranda soon grow fond of one another, though as they get to know each other she finds herself repeatedly drawn into conversations with others about Franco's rapidly failing health, prompted in part by her father's imminent arrival. Charles and Miranda are staying at the same hotel, where they encounter fellow guests Mitch (Hans Meyer) and Beth (Catherine de Seynes). Many of the locals seem quite familiar with Mitch, though he claims to be a British tourist who has never visited the area before, and while Mitch's explanations seem convincing, no one is sure why he is using a surveillance camera to monitor the activities of a nearby farmhouse -- or how Charles got a pair of military-grade night-vision goggles. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi