The key here is that Gun was just an ordinary person. She projects palpable passion and raw emotion into her take on the character but never pushes her in a direction where she becomes larger than life. Keen-eyed “Game of Thrones” fans should be able to pick out a few of their favorites in smaller but important roles here, as well. Knightley leads a veritable whos-who of British stars here, including Matt Smith (“ Doctor Who“), Ralph Fiennes (“ The White Crow“), Rhys Ifans (“ The Amazing Spider-Man“) and more. Hood uses very few of the typical espionage film tropes here.Īnd we haven’t even talked about the cast of “Official Secrets” yet. No clocks ticking and assassins peering at targets through scopes. This is a quiet, understated film, filled with people speaking in code, speaking in tense, sometimes terse whispers. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel authentic.ĭirector Gavin Hood (“ Ender’s Game“) keeps things grounded here. Inspired by the novel “ The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War” by Marcia and Thomas Mitchell, “Official Secrets” certainly feels dramatized. Was a she a patriot, or a criminal? The question was set to be debated during her trial, and then … Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself what happened next. While her intent was to save lives, she’d violated her oath regarding the handling of classified information. What they did do was get her in a lot of legal trouble. Gun’s actions didn’t stop the invasion of Iraq, of course. Her eventual choice leads to the memo being published by a British newspaper, The Observer, and her coming forward about her actions to authorities. Sickened by the directive and its implications, Gun feels she must do something to try to prevent an unjust and immoral war. The goal was simple: find something potentially incriminating or embarrassing to those members so that they could be strong-armed into voting for a new UN resolution authorizing the use of force against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The memo contained a directive from the American NSA, approved and passed along by the British government, for an operation targeting members of the United Nations Security Council from five nations. But one day she and her entire department received a memo that shook her to her core. Her everyday work involved obtaining information electronically to help her government conduct international relations. In 2004, Gun was accused of a crime under the United Kingdom’s Official Secrets Act of 1989.Ī year before, Gun worked as a translator for a British Intelligence agency. “Official Secrets” tells the story of whistleblower Katharine Gun. Powered by an all-star cast and an incredible story inspired by true events, it’s utterly enthralling stuff, especially if you enjoy political and legal dramas. More importantly, it presents how electronic espionage can be used to influence the course of 21st Century world events. “Official Secrets” is the kind of spy thriller we’re not used to seeing, but we should see more of.īased on true events, it presents international espionage in a grounded, unglamorous way.
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