Official Secrets

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.

The true life story of a woman who put the truth before career and personal life. The true life story of Katharine Gun, the brave young woman who leaked a document, telling us exactly what was happening in Iraq.

It's a terrific film, it focuses on a story which for many is still hard to swallow. It's such an exciting movie, crammed with tension, as a political story you may expect it to be slow, it isn't.

The performances are superb, Kiera Knightley is fantastic as Katharine, Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith are also on point.

IMDb is a platform for reviewing films and shows, it's a terrific site, and not the place for my political views. I'll just leave this, this is the first time I've not switched off something featuring Tony Blair.

Great film, 8/10.

This film is based on a true story of a woman working for the British government who leaked a document to the press so that the Iraqui war might not happen. In case you've forgotten, that war was started under the false premise that Iraq had "weapons of mass destruction" and they were planning to use them with anti-western forces top launch attacks. Both allegations were blatant lies, trumped up by the Bush administration, but at the time, many people believed them and in fact, the US and the Brits went to war with hundreds of thousands of casualties.

The film is slow paced but the acting is excellent, especially from Ralph Fiennes who seems to utterly disappear into his roles. It's a case study of someone being willing to stand up for what she believes regardless of the consequences. There are precious few people like this, so every film that chronicles their struggle deserves to be seen.

This film is a true story and shows why we must never accept the spin that Presidents and Prime Ministers tell us to justify their actions. In 2019 we need to be more careful what we believe what our governments tell us.