Eye in the Sky, from director Gavin Hood, landed in 2015. That explosive film was a haunting artistic statement that put a fierce emotional human face on the use of drones in war. The director’s cinematic tone could not have been more impeccable to give justice to the gutsy true tale of Katharine Gun (a never better Keira Knightley).
Gun risked everything (including her marriage and, of course, her freedom) to expose the unethical and illegal requests of the United States. The US government sought to have British intelligence to do their best to spy on a few smaller nations that sat on the UN Security Council. The goal: to utilize blackmail in order to sway votes for a resolution to authorize force to topple Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein. The Americans—led by President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld—claimed that the Middle Eastern strongman had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and was an immediate and terrifying threat to all freedom loving peoples of the world. Working with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush had a partner in crime—literally—in building up global support to invade Iraq and topple Hussein.
Gun worked for the British government agency charged with monitoring conversations between those who might wish ill of the country. She, as well as everyone in her particular London-based unit, received a memo from the National Security Agency (NSA) requesting British intelligence find dirt on a number of the UN representatives from less powerful nations. Then, those delegates could have arms twisted and votes secured for that US-pushed resolution to authorize force. When she leaked the memo to an anti-war friend, who in turn gave it to reporter Martin Bright (Matt Smith) of The Observer, after much corroborating, the notoriously pro-war paper ran his story.
Attempted political extortion by the US and Great Britain was exposed.
Sadly, we know the rest of this larger picture of history. Even though Powell took to the UN floor and claimed in front of the entire planet that the US had firm proof that Saddam had WMDs and intended to use them (including nuclear and chemical). Thanks to the Bright expose, the UN never did authorize force. Sadly, the US and Britain went to war anyway. That illegal war resulted in the deaths of over 4,400 US troops, and over 32,000 were injured in battle and would never be the same.
As for the Iraqis, around a half a million of them would perish thanks to a legion of lies.
For her sacrifice, Gun would be charged with violating the Official Secrets Act. Her husband, a Kurdish refugee from Iraq (and a Muslim—a fact that would be cowardly used against her repeatedly), would be threatened with deportation. Overall, her life would be ruined. What is so stunning, as so brilliantly stated in one bloody brilliant monologue by Knightley, the whistleblower would do it all over again. In her mind, she was doing her fellow citizens due diligence in hopes of saving lives. After bombs fell on Baghdad, she emotionally admitted that her effort was in vain, aka a “failure.”
As you can tell, witnessing Hood’s latest is a frustrating and anger-inducing endeavor. But it also could not be more important on a myriad of levels.
The build up to the Iraq War should be routinely revisited over the upcoming years and decades as to (hopefully) serve as an enormous neon sign of warning against our governments’ lying to us to send our brave heroes into a battle. One of the ways that these lessons can be learned is to experience Official Secrets. Hopefully, Gun’s sacrifice and intensely brave effort can not only be celebrated, but serve as a reminder that we the people must hold our leaders to task in order to maintain the righteousness of pure democracy.
It helps that Knightley gives the performance of her career. Her searing turn as Gun should have the former British national security member feeling overwhelmed with a tsunami of positive emotions directed towards her, extolling that all of her sacrifice were not in vain. It may not have done anything to stop Bush and Blair’s illegal war, but by telling her story, perhaps—just perhaps—in the future the public will be a bit more skeptical about a lead up to violence.
Hood expertly lays out the case for what Gun did. It is impossible to not be moved by what she did as her intentions were beyond pure. Knightley digs deep and delivers a performance that I believe she could never top! For starters, there could not be a character arc as rich, layered and more authentically raw as the one she is gifted to her by screenwriters Gregory Bernstein, Sara Bernstein and Hood (based on the book The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion by Marcia Mitchell and Thomas Mitchell).
Both filmmaker and screenwriters had a supreme challenge in putting together this cinematic expose. There is the personal story of a woman, enjoying marital bliss and working a job she feels is integral to saving lives, especially in the shadow of 9/11. Then, there’s the journalistic aspect (which is fascinating), expertly illustrated by Smith’s sensational turn as The Observer’s Bright. All while this is being developed with a dramatic pull that is intense, current events of the day are playing out on television screens while our players react passionately to what they are witnessing. We particularly treasured moments where Knightley’s Gun is literally screaming at her TV while Bush and Blair blatantly lie.
Telling a true tale is a potentially thankless endeavor. There are all the souls that exist in the real world who will see themselves portrayed on the big screen who aspire to be fairly portrayed. At the same time, there are the “rules” of storytelling that must be adhered to—all while weaving a web that never slams the audience with its opinion blatantly. Official Secrets subtly and magnificently makes its point via the actions, words and characterization of all the actors in the ensemble. Hood and his team have outdone themselves with Official Secrets and even though it is likely to enrage some viewers, the film could not be more important—especially today.
Smith balances several balls in the air for his character effortlessly. His senior editorial team is clearly in favor of the war. When this scandalous piece of evidence landed on Bright’s desk, the reporter was able to alter opinions in the newsroom (which is no easy endeavor). The actor also shines in illustrating his character’s charm in working sources and his uncanny passion for getting it right—something too many journalists seem to have forgotten of late.
Killing it (again!) in a supporting role is Ralph Fiennes as Ben Emmerson, a lawyer who heads up the Liberty legal group. They triumph for those who seek to right wrongs and pay a hefty price for their noble effort. What is so expertly played by Fiennes, is how innately intrigued Emmerson is in defending Gun and how that intensifies as he delves deeper into what it is that she is exposing.
A truly selfless role arrives from one of my favorite English thespians, Rhys Ifans. He portrays fellow Observer reporter, Ed Vulliamy. The journalist is always challenging his editors to not be a newspaper mouthpiece for “10 Downing Street.” But it is only with this particular reporting on the UN Security Council vote that his notorious railing against those in power catches fire. Finally, there is enough kerosene in this story to spark an explosion. Ifans plays the character as zealous yes, but never conspiracy nut crazy—a difficult needle to thread to say the least.
Official Secrets is also incredibly timely. Many on the left side of the political spectrum in the United States wonder why those who are upset at current events don’t take to the streets every single weekend to protest the lies, power grab and justice denying existence that exists currently in our executive branch.
I see the seeds of this relative apathy sown during what Bush and his Neo-Con buddies achieved with the Iraq War.
Since not a single soul has been charged with war crimes, or any other legal repercussion from launching an illegal war, and no one has taken responsibility for all those deaths and permanent injuries that occurred as a result of the horror show that was the Iraq War, who’s going to get their feathers ruffled over the actions of the current 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue resident? Seriously, what’s stacking the Supreme Court, striking down the laws meant to better our planet environmentally, loosening the very regulations that were put in place to avoid another economic crash like the one we had under Bush in 2007-2008, compared to morally putting our country in the toilet and forever altering or ending the lives of a million people?
For her part, Gun did what she could to stop this long desired effort by the Bush family to topple Saddam. Yes, she failed. But it wasn’t from her lack of conviction, heroism and honor to the truths that are what keeps democracy afloat. As portrayed in Official Secrets, our world is better because of the Guns of the planet.
Perhaps the lesson that is her life will inspire someone, somewhere, to speak up. Perhaps if enough people see Hood’s film, maybe—just maybe—Americans will take to the streets and demand their democracy back like so many are currently doing in Hong Kong.
Grade: A