Raison d'état

This is a wonderfully moody piece, featuring the magnificently brooding Gabriel Byrne as a journo on the trail of sinister conspiracies.

Dark, seedy and washed out, with a wealth of British stars, following an intricately woven thread of plot, this is a great example of old-fashioned, restrained British film.

Well put together, and it will not do your paranoia any good at all! (But then, if you're not a bit paranoid, there's something wrong with you!)

Perhaps the characters could do with filling out a little, but on the whole, this is a very well-crafted thriller, to which you have to pay attention, as there are no big info-dumps or exposition: you have to work out a lot for yourself.

Gabriel Byrne stars in "Defence of the Realm," a 1985 film also starring Denholm Elliott, Greta Scacchi, Ian Bannen and Robbie Coltrane.

Byrne plays Mullen, an aggressive newsman who is responsible for a story leading to the downfall of a Parliament member - he was seen leaving a madam's house, as was a KGB agent. However, he soon learns that there's much more to the story than that and that the man has been set up because he knew to much.

This is a very good story with handsome Byrne heading up an excellent cast of foreign faces that will be very familiar to Americans. All of the acting is good, with a standout performance by Denholm Elliott. The beautiful Greta Scacchi, an asset to any production, is totally wasted here, however.

What I liked best about this, and many other British films, is that you have to pay attention - first of all, so that your ears can adjust to the sound of not only the accents but also adjust to the way the British allow room tone to mix in with the dialogue, which we're not used to here. It gives the atmosphere a much more realistic flavor.

Worth seeing.

It seemed quite promising, but was hard to follow in places, not helped by one or two outdoor scenes not transforming well onto a TV screen. I'd recorded it, so on several occasions was able to rewind to have another go at understanding it. It might help if I was to watch the entire film again from start to finish, but I can't be bothered. As I understand it, a youth fleeing from the police clambers over a very nasty looking fence onto the runway of an American air base and gets killed by an aircraft that's landing with a nuclear bomb on board. This precipitates an emergency exodus from the base. Cue cover-up, investigated by local MP who gets set up, leading to investigation by reporter.

Byrne does well as the reporter, but as is often the case Denholm Elliott impresses the most. Greta Scacchi is very bland.

If ever any one was in doubt that democratic governments may not be averse to using the occasional dirty tricks then this film is an eye opener. Based around a busy news paper office this is the story of one mans crusade to make sure a scandal involving a cabinet minister is not pushed under the carpet. The story is full of twists and turns as our intrepid hero gets the bit between his teeth but the powers that be haul in him and judge for yourself the meaning of their words. A must for any one into political thrillers.