Official Secrets

It's 2003 and America is making the case to go to war with Iraq. Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley) is a British intelligence translator in GCHQ. They secretly listen in on communications around the world. Everybody gets an email ordering them to work with the Americans to dig up dirt on other UN Security Council states and push them to pass a war vote. Katharine is shocked. Despite the powerful Official Secrets Act, she risks everything to leak the damaging memo to the public. Journalist Martin Bright (Matt Smith) breaks with his paper's endorsement of the war to publish the article as the power of the state bears down upon Katharine and her refugee husband.

I am surprised at the tension of this movie. It helps that I remember a little of the story but not its outcome for Katharine. One thing that frustrated me early on is the attitude of the husband. Without any insights into his character, he can come off as a callous clueless buffoon. The movie needs to lay out his situation from the beginning so that the audience can appreciate his point of view. The other minor issue is the title. It is the blandest of titles. The book's title "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War" would be vastly better. This movie has lots of tension as a thriller and loads of insight into war creating.

Official Secrets studies the events that are happening in intelligence during the run up to the second gulf war. Having lived through the times myself was aware of the background to the movie, but unaware of the specific story that it explores.

Keira Knightly plays Katharine Gun who works at GCHQ collecting intelligence for the UK. She is concerned about the accuracy of the intelligence that is being used to prove the case for war. The British and American government need a resolution passing at the United Nations to legitimize the war. A memo is distributed to collect intelligence on the United Nations members that can be used to coax them into voting for the resolution. She is shocked by this and wants to stop the war.

In the same way that Brexit dominates British news at the moment WMD's dominated the next back then. The movie is good and shows the pressure that everybody is under. You get the chance to wonder whether you would make the same decisions as Katharine and whether she was right to do it.

I've never been a big fan of Knightly, but she does a fine job in Official Secrets. Well worth a watch.

It's sometimes difficult for films that deal with heavy dialogue covering subjects that are not always the easiest to translate on screen to create thrilling 100 minutes or so. Official Secrets does it well, bolstered by yet another great (period piece) performance from Keira Knightley. This film may not be revered as much as All the President's Men or Spotlight but it's up there for me. Separating itself by showing the true costs of being a whistleblower emotionally and physically while still succeeding in using a similar formula structurally. I was nothing short of enthralled with Official Secrets.

8.8/10

Official Secrets is a very well done and very important political thriller, it won the best Foreign Film Award at the Traverse City Film Festival that I attended, so that goes to prove that it has a lasting effect, and I agree. So if you're willing to believe in what the story is telling you, it has great performances and twists and turns throughout, it'll have you cheering for the protagonists and utterly booing the antagonists, if you're in the mood for a good solid political thriller I recommend Official Secrets.

I was talked into going to see this and had my doubts as it seemed to be a variation on the Judi Dench film, Red Joan, which came out last year.

However, despite being a slow burn of a film, it does a very good job with the slightly staid script. The morality angle is very evenly addressed and the politics of the invasion of Iraq are laid bare. We all know now how the government of Tony Blair were sucked in to a war that had resolved very little (and may have made things worse) but to be in the know at the time and to stand up and be counted took great personal courage. And this conflict of interests is very well handled to its satisfactory resolution.

I must confess that Keira Knightley is not an actress I've ever warmed to but she does a decent job in the lead role. However the standout supporting actor to me is Matt Smith who's energy and dynamism as the journalist who doggedly pursues the story he is tipped off about really keeps the film ticking along.

Definitely worth a watch and hopefully it may make you question the honesty of governments in the future.