Official Secrets (2019)

Official Secrets is a docudrama which premiered in 2019. It is a spy thriller based on a true story. The main character is a young woman (Katharine Gun) who works for British intelligence (GCHQ).

In January 2003, shortly before the beginning of the Iraq War, she receives a secret memo from US intelligence (NSA) which has a surprising suggestion: the US wants Britain to help collecting compromising information about the temporary members of the UN Security Council which can be used to blackmail these members to support an invasion of Iraq.

Katharine is shocked. She believes the US is preparing a war that is wrong and illegal. And she can see that the US wants the UK to support this project. This is too much. She cannot remain passive. She decides to break the official secrets act and leak the secret memo to the press. This movie shows what happened next.

Here is some basic information about it:

** Director: Gavin Hood
** Writers: Gregory and Sara Bernstein and Gavin Hood
** Based on the book The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War by Marcia and Thomas Mitchell (2008)
** Run time: 112 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Keira Knightley as Katharine Gun – analyst and translator at GCHQ
** Matt Smith as Martin Bright – reporter
** Matthew Goode as Peter Beaumont – reporter
** Rhys Ifans as Ed Vulliamy - reporter

** Conleth Hill as Roger Alton – editor (the Observer)
** Ralph Fiennes as Ben Emmerson – lawyer (works for the human rights organisation Liberty)
** Indira Varma as Shami Chakrabarti – Labour politician (works for Liberty)
** Tamsin Greig as Elizabeth Wilmshurst – Deputy Legal Advisor at the Foreign Office (UK)

** Peter Guinness as Tin Tin – police officer (Scotland Yard)
** Kenneth Cranham as Judge Hyam
** Jeremy Northam as Ken MacDonald – Crown Prosecution Service
** Adam Bakri as Yasar Gun – Katharine’s husband

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore I could mention many of them in this review, but I will not do that.

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here. But the basic story is true. As far as I know, historical accuracy is relatively high.

The drama begins in 2004. Katharine has been charged with a serious crime, violating the official secrets act, and she is entering the courtroom. Her trial is about to begin.

But before anything happens, the story flips ca one year back to the beginning of 2003. We see Katharine and her husband Yasar at home. We see Katharine at work. And we see her in the fateful moment when she opens and reads the secret memo from NSA.

From this point in time the story moves slowly forward until we reach 2004; the point where the movie began. And this time we get to see what happens in the courtroom.

What do reviewers say about this drama? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

64 per cent = Meta
72 per cent = IMDb
82 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
89 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

As you can see, the ratings are mixed. The lowest (Meta) is close to three stars on Amazon, while the highest (the audience of Rotten Tomatoes) is close to five stars.

If you ask me, the first two ratings (Meta and IMDb) are too low, while the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes (the critics and the audience) are much more appropriate. Why?

The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The story is captivating, dramatic, and often highly emotional. In addition, it is based on a true story.

I want to go all the way to the top with this drama. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. If you do not remember the case, do not use Google to find out more before watching the movie. You do not want Google to spoil it all for you. But even if you do remember the case, I still think the drama will catch your attention because of the fascinating discussions about what is right and wrong; about what is legal and illegal.

PS # 2. Sam Husseini (from FAIR in New York) made the following statement about the movie: 

“Having followed this story from the start, I find this film to be, by Hollywood standards, a remarkably accurate account of what has happened to date – to date, because the wider story still isn’t over.”

PS # 3. The following article is available online: Jon Schwarz, “The Best Movie Ever Made about the Truth behind the Iraq War is Official Secrets,” The Intercept, 31 August 2019.

PS # 4. Martin Bright interviewed Katharine Gun ten years after she leaked the secret memo to the press: “Katharine Gun ten years on,” The Guardian, 3 March 2013.

PS # 5. The Mitchell book about the case was published in 2008. In 2016, there were some plans to make a movie based on the book starring Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Dormer, and Gillian Anderson. But nothing came of these plans. When the movie was made in 2018, it was with a different director and a different cast.

PS # 6. When you see a picture of the real Katharine, you will notice that Keira Knightley does not look like Katharine at all, but apart from this fact I have to say that she plays the role very well. In fact, this movie is much better than the historical movies which made her famous: The Duchess (2008), Colette (2018) and The Aftermath (2019).

PS # 7. Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You by Norman Solomon and Reese Erlich was released in January 2003. Katharine bought this book in January 2003 and read it a few days before the fateful NSA memo appeared in her mail box. This book made a deep impression on her. It convinced her that the US plan to start a war against Iraq was wrong and illegal. But this book is not mentioned in the movie.

PS # 8. According to one reviewer, a movie should have three different levels in order to be a great movie: (a) a personal story; (b) journalism; the role of the media; and (c) legality; the role of the law.

If this definition is correct, we can see that Official Secrets passes the test with flying colours: it is a great movie!

*****

*****

 

Katherine Gun (born 1974)

*****