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Official Secrets (film)

December 15, 2023

Official Secrets is a 2019 British drama film directed by Gavin Hood, based on the case of whistleblower Katharine Gun who exposed an illegal spying operation by American and British intelligence services to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[3][4] Keira Knightley stars as Gun, alongside Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri, Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes.

Official Secrets
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGavin Hood
Screenplay by
  • Gregory Bernstein
  • Sara Bernstein
  • Gavin Hood
Based onThe Spy Who Tried to Stop a War
by Marcia & Thomas Mitchell
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyFlorian Hoffmeister
Edited byMegan Gill
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 28 January 2019 (2019-01-28) (Sundance)
  • 30 August 2019 (2019-08-30) (United States)
  • 18 October 2019 (2019-10-18) (United Kingdom)
Running time
112 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$10.1 million[1][2]

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 28 January 2019 and was released in the United States on 30 August 2019, by IFC Films, and in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2019, by Entertainment One.

Plot edit

In early 2003, GCHQ analyst Katharine Gun obtains a memo detailing a joint United States and British operation to spy on diplomats from several non–permanent United Nations Security Council member states Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria and Guinea to "dig dirt" on them and influence the Security Council into passing a resolution supporting an invasion of Iraq. Angered that the United Kingdom is being led into a war on false pretences, Katharine leaks the memo to a friend involved in the anti-war movement, who passes it to anti-war activist Yvonne Ridley, who in turn passes it to The Observer journalist Martin Bright.

The Observer foreign editor Peter Beaumont allows Martin to investigate the story in the interests of journalism. To verify the authenticity of the leaked memo, Martin enlists the help of the Observer's Washington, DC correspondent Ed Vulliamy in contacting the memo's author Frank Koza, the Chief of Staff at the "regional targets" section of the National Security Agency. Despite the Observer's pro-war stance, Peter convinces the newspaper’s editor Roger Alton that the leaked memo is worth publishing.

The publication of the leaked memo in March 2003 generates considerable public and media interest. The Drudge Report attempts to discredit the document as a fake after a young staffer named Nicole Mowbray inadvertently changed the text from American to British English using spell check. However, Martin is able to produce the original memo, confirming its authenticity. Katharine's actions prompt GCHQ to launch an internal investigation. Seeking to prevent an invasion of Iraq and to protect her fellow GCHQ colleagues from prolonged suspicion, Katharine confesses to leaking the memo. She is arrested and detained for a night before being released on remand.

Following the outbreak of the Iraq War, Katharine seeks the services of the Liberty lawyers Ben Emmerson and Shami Chakrabarti. The British Government decides to charge her with violating the Official Secrets Act, tasking Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald with leading the prosecution. To exert pressure, the British authorities attempt to deport her husband Yasar Gun, a Turkish Kurd. However, Katharine is able to halt the deportation by presenting a marriage certificate proving the authenticity of her relationship.

Ben comes up with the defence strategy that Katharine was acting out of loyalty to her country by seeking to prevent the UK from being led into an unlawful war in Iraq. With the help of Martin, Ed, and former Foreign Office deputy legal adviser Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Ben discovers that the Attorney General Peter Goldsmith changed his position on the legality of the Iraq War after meeting with several lawyers from the Bush Administration. Despite the odds stacked against them, Katharine refuses to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced charge.

On the day of the trial, the Crown prosecutor drops all charges against Katharine. Ben suggests to the court that this is because prosecuting her would have shown that the Blair government led the UK into war on false pretences. The film then mentions the human toll of the Iraq War and that Lord Goldsmith's advice on the illegality of the Iraq War was made public in 2010. The film ends with footage of Katharine addressing the media following the dismissal of her case and Ben shunning Ken for putting Katharine through the ordeal "to make an example of her".

Cast edit

Production edit

Sara and Gregory Bernstein had written a script already in 2008. Eventually it found itself on The Black List, a list of "most liked" screenplays that have not yet been produced, where director Debs Paterson saw it.[6] Still, nothing came of it until January 2016, when a filming start in May was announced, with Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Bettany, Natalie Dormer and Martin Freeman cast.[7] Tahar Rahim and Gillian Anderson were cast during the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.[8][9] However by June 2017, filming had yet to begin, and cast member Anderson stated she had not heard anything about the project since being cast.[10]

By January 2018, the project was redeveloped once more, with Gavin Hood now set to direct in place of Justin Chadwick, and Keira Knightley and Matt Smith cast in February, replacing the previous cast. In March, Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode joined the cast, with filming beginning on 12 March 2018 in Yorkshire.[11][12][13][14] Filming took place in the village of Boston Spa on 14 March.[15] Indira Varma, Conleth Hill and Tamsin Greig joined the cast the next day.[16] Filming had moved to Manchester by 19 March, serving as a stand-in for London.[17] Filming was undertaken in April 2018 in Liverpool's St George's Hall.[18] The beach scenes for the character played by Ralph Fiennes is at Thurstaston beach on the Dee Estuary of Wirral peninsula and prominently shows the cottage known locally as Sally's Cottage.

Release edit

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 28 January 2019.[19] Shortly after, IFC Films acquired US distribution rights to the film.[20] It was released in the United States on 30 August 2019.[21] It was previously scheduled to be released on 23 August 2019.[22] and in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2019.[23]

Reception edit

 
Keira Knightley's performance garnered critical acclaim.

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 166 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Official Secrets has a familiar structure and an obvious if worthy message, but rises on the strength of Keira Knightley's powerful performance."[24] On Metacritic, the film holds 63 out of a 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25]

In an article about the film and Katharine Gun, Sam Husseini wrote that "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 really over".[26]

Accolades edit

Award Year Category Recipient Result Ref(s)
Saturn Awards 26 October 2021 Best International Film Official Secrets Nominated [27]

References edit

  1. ^ "Official Secrets". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Official Secrets". The Numbers. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  3. ^ Koza, Frank. "US plan to bug Security Council: the text". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Ex-GCHQ officer 'preventing war'". BBC News. 27 November 2003. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  5. ^ Rooney, David (29 January 2019). "'Official Secrets': Film Review Sundance 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  6. ^ Bright, Martin (3 March 2013). "Ten years on what happened to the woman who revealed dirty tricks on Iraq war vote?". The Observer. Retrieved 30 June 2021 – via The Guardian.
  7. ^ McNary, Dave (28 January 2016). "Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins to Star in Thriller 'Official Secrets'". Variety.
  8. ^ McNary, Dave (12 February 2016). "Berlin: 'A Prophet' Star Tahar Rahim Joins Harrison Ford in 'Official Secrets' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  9. ^ McNary, Dave (13 February 2016). "Berlin: Gillian Anderson Joining Harrison Ford in 'Official Secrets' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  10. ^ Pape, Stefan (1 March 2017). ""Things haven't changed" – Gillian Anderson on the relevance of Viceroy's House". Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  11. ^ Cook, Laurence (16 January 2016). "U.K. Greenlit: "Official Secrets," "Mrs. Lowry and Son," BBC's "Les Miserables," + More Start Shooting by Next Month, Need Talent". Backstage.
  12. ^ Galuppo, Mia (2 February 2018). "Keira Knightley, Matt Smith to Star in Real-Life Spy Thriller 'Official Secrets'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  13. ^ Kay, Jeremy (12 February 2018). "Keira Knightley, Matt Smith to star in 'Official Secrets' (exclusive)". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  14. ^ Kroll, Justin (8 March 2018). "Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode Join Keira Knightley Thriller 'Official Secrets' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  15. ^ Newton, Grace (14 March 2018). "Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith film new movie in village near Leeds". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  16. ^ White, Peter (15 March 2018). "'Game Of Thrones' Indira Varma & Conleth Hill Join Gavin Hood's 'Official Secrets'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  17. ^ Bardsley, Andrew (19 March 2018). "Manchester transformed into London as Keira Knightley arrives in town for new film". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  18. ^ Houghton, Alistair (28 April 2018). "Revealed: Why Keira Knightley was spotted in Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  19. ^ Patten, Dominic (28 November 2018). "Sundance 2019: Premieres Include Harvey Weinstein Docu, Mindy Kaling, Dr. Ruth, UK Spies, Miles Davis & Ted Bundy". Deadline.com. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  20. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (2 February 2019). "Sundance: Keira Knightly Whistleblower Drama 'Official Secrets' Acquired by IFC Films". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Official Secrets". IFC Films. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  22. ^ Pederson, Erik (2 April 2019). "'Official Secrets': Keira Knightley-Ralph Fiennes Whistleblower Thriller Gets Release Date Via IFC Films". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Official Secrets: Keira Knightley stars in story of Iraq war whistleblower – trailer". TheGuardian.com. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  24. ^ "Official Secrets (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  25. ^ "Official Secrets". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  26. ^ Husseini, Sam (30 August 2019). "Film Official Secrets Is Tip of Mammoth Iceberg". FAIR. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  27. ^ Hipes, Patrick (4 March 2021). "Saturn Awards Nominations: 'Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker', 'Tenet', 'Walking Dead', 'Outlander' Lead List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 June 2021.

External links edit

  • Official website
  • Official Secrets at IMDb

December 15, 2023
official, secrets, film, official, secrets, 2019, british, drama, film, directed, gavin, hood, based, case, whistleblower, katharine, exposed, illegal, spying, operation, american, british, intelligence, services, gauge, sentiment, potentially, blackmail, unit. Official Secrets is a 2019 British drama film directed by Gavin Hood based on the case of whistleblower Katharine Gun who exposed an illegal spying operation by American and British intelligence services to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq 3 4 Keira Knightley stars as Gun alongside Matt Smith Matthew Goode Adam Bakri Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes Official SecretsTheatrical release posterDirected byGavin HoodScreenplay byGregory Bernstein Sara Bernstein Gavin HoodBased onThe Spy Who Tried to Stop a Warby Marcia amp Thomas MitchellProduced byGed Doherty Elizabeth Fowler Melissa Shiyu ZuoStarringKeira Knightley Matt Smith Matthew Goode Rhys Ifans Adam Bakri Ralph FiennesCinematographyFlorian HoffmeisterEdited byMegan GillMusic byPaul Hepker Mark KilianProductioncompaniesClear Pictures Entertainment Raindog Films The Gordon Company Ingenious Media Screen YorkshireDistributed byEntertainment One United Kingdom IFC Films United States Release dates28 January 2019 2019 01 28 Sundance 30 August 2019 2019 08 30 United States 18 October 2019 2019 10 18 United Kingdom Running time112 minutesCountriesUnited Kingdom United StatesLanguageEnglishBox office 10 1 million 1 2 The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 28 January 2019 and was released in the United States on 30 August 2019 by IFC Films and in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2019 by Entertainment One Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Release 5 Reception 5 1 Accolades 6 References 7 External linksPlot editIn early 2003 GCHQ analyst Katharine Gun obtains a memo detailing a joint United States and British operation to spy on diplomats from several non permanent United Nations Security Council member states Cameroon Chile Bulgaria and Guinea to dig dirt on them and influence the Security Council into passing a resolution supporting an invasion of Iraq Angered that the United Kingdom is being led into a war on false pretences Katharine leaks the memo to a friend involved in the anti war movement who passes it to anti war activist Yvonne Ridley who in turn passes it to The Observer journalist Martin Bright The Observer foreign editor Peter Beaumont allows Martin to investigate the story in the interests of journalism To verify the authenticity of the leaked memo Martin enlists the help of the Observer s Washington DC correspondent Ed Vulliamy in contacting the memo s author Frank Koza the Chief of Staff at the regional targets section of the National Security Agency Despite the Observer s pro war stance Peter convinces the newspaper s editor Roger Alton that the leaked memo is worth publishing The publication of the leaked memo in March 2003 generates considerable public and media interest The Drudge Report attempts to discredit the document as a fake after a young staffer named Nicole Mowbray inadvertently changed the text from American to British English using spell check However Martin is able to produce the original memo confirming its authenticity Katharine s actions prompt GCHQ to launch an internal investigation Seeking to prevent an invasion of Iraq and to protect her fellow GCHQ colleagues from prolonged suspicion Katharine confesses to leaking the memo She is arrested and detained for a night before being released on remand Following the outbreak of the Iraq War Katharine seeks the services of the Liberty lawyers Ben Emmerson and Shami Chakrabarti The British Government decides to charge her with violating the Official Secrets Act tasking Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald with leading the prosecution To exert pressure the British authorities attempt to deport her husband Yasar Gun a Turkish Kurd However Katharine is able to halt the deportation by presenting a marriage certificate proving the authenticity of her relationship Ben comes up with the defence strategy that Katharine was acting out of loyalty to her country by seeking to prevent the UK from being led into an unlawful war in Iraq With the help of Martin Ed and former Foreign Office deputy legal adviser Elizabeth Wilmshurst Ben discovers that the Attorney General Peter Goldsmith changed his position on the legality of the Iraq War after meeting with several lawyers from the Bush Administration Despite the odds stacked against them Katharine refuses to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced charge On the day of the trial the Crown prosecutor drops all charges against Katharine Ben suggests to the court that this is because prosecuting her would have shown that the Blair government led the UK into war on false pretences The film then mentions the human toll of the Iraq War and that Lord Goldsmith s advice on the illegality of the Iraq War was made public in 2010 The film ends with footage of Katharine addressing the media following the dismissal of her case and Ben shunning Ken for putting Katharine through the ordeal to make an example of her Cast editKeira Knightley as Katharine Gun Matt Smith as Martin Bright Matthew Goode as Peter Beaumont Rhys Ifans as Ed Vulliamy Adam Bakri as Yasar Gun Indira Varma as Shami Chakrabarti Ralph Fiennes as Ben Emmerson Conleth Hill as Roger Alton Tamsin Greig as Elizabeth Wilmshurst Hattie Morahan as Yvonne Ridley Ray Panthaki as Kamal Ahmed Angus Wright as Mark Ellison Chris Larkin as Nigel Jones Baron Jones of Cheltenham Monica Dolan as Fiona Bygate Jack Farthing as Andy Dumfries Clive Francis as Admiral Nick Wilkinson Katherine Kelly as Jacqueline MI6 Agent John Heffernan as James Welch Kenneth Cranham as Judge Hyam Darrell D Silva as Chilean Ambassador Janie Dee as Jan Clements MyAnna Buring as Jasmine Niccy Lin as Mi Yung Chris Reilly as Jerry Shaun Dooley as John Peter Guinness as TinTin Hanako Footman as Nicole Mowbray Jeremy Northam 5 as Ken MacdonaldProduction editSara and Gregory Bernstein had written a script already in 2008 Eventually it found itself on The Black List a list of most liked screenplays that have not yet been produced where director Debs Paterson saw it 6 Still nothing came of it until January 2016 when a filming start in May was announced with Harrison Ford Anthony Hopkins Paul Bettany Natalie Dormer and Martin Freeman cast 7 Tahar Rahim and Gillian Anderson were cast during the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival 8 9 However by June 2017 filming had yet to begin and cast member Anderson stated she had not heard anything about the project since being cast 10 By January 2018 the project was redeveloped once more with Gavin Hood now set to direct in place of Justin Chadwick and Keira Knightley and Matt Smith cast in February replacing the previous cast In March Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode joined the cast with filming beginning on 12 March 2018 in Yorkshire 11 12 13 14 Filming took place in the village of Boston Spa on 14 March 15 Indira Varma Conleth Hill and Tamsin Greig joined the cast the next day 16 Filming had moved to Manchester by 19 March serving as a stand in for London 17 Filming was undertaken in April 2018 in Liverpool s St George s Hall 18 The beach scenes for the character played by Ralph Fiennes is at Thurstaston beach on the Dee Estuary of Wirral peninsula and prominently shows the cottage known locally as Sally s Cottage Release editThe film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 28 January 2019 19 Shortly after IFC Films acquired US distribution rights to the film 20 It was released in the United States on 30 August 2019 21 It was previously scheduled to be released on 23 August 2019 22 and in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2019 23 Reception edit nbsp Keira Knightley s performance garnered critical acclaim On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 82 based on 166 reviews with an average rating of 6 9 10 The website s critics consensus reads Official Secrets has a familiar structure and an obvious if worthy message but rises on the strength of Keira Knightley s powerful performance 24 On Metacritic the film holds 63 out of a 100 based on 28 reviews indicating generally favorable reviews 25 In an article about the film and Katharine Gun Sam Husseini wrote that 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 really over 26 Accolades edit Award Year Category Recipient Result Ref s Saturn Awards 26 October 2021 Best International Film Official Secrets Nominated 27 References edit Official Secrets Box Office Mojo Retrieved 30 June 2021 Official Secrets The Numbers Retrieved 30 June 2021 Koza Frank US plan to bug Security Council the text The Guardian Retrieved 30 June 2021 Ex GCHQ officer preventing war BBC News 27 November 2003 Retrieved 30 June 2021 Rooney David 29 January 2019 Official Secrets Film Review Sundance 2019 The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 30 June 2021 Bright Martin 3 March 2013 Ten years on what happened to the woman who revealed dirty tricks on Iraq war vote The Observer Retrieved 30 June 2021 via The Guardian McNary Dave 28 January 2016 Harrison Ford Anthony Hopkins to Star in Thriller Official Secrets Variety McNary Dave 12 February 2016 Berlin A Prophet Star Tahar Rahim Joins Harrison Ford in Official Secrets EXCLUSIVE Variety McNary Dave 13 February 2016 Berlin Gillian Anderson Joining Harrison Ford in Official Secrets EXCLUSIVE Variety Pape Stefan 1 March 2017 Things haven t changed Gillian Anderson on the relevance of Viceroy s House Retrieved 30 June 2021 Cook Laurence 16 January 2016 U K Greenlit Official Secrets Mrs Lowry and Son BBC s Les Miserables More Start Shooting by Next Month Need Talent Backstage Galuppo Mia 2 February 2018 Keira Knightley Matt Smith to Star in Real Life Spy Thriller Official Secrets The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 30 June 2021 Kay Jeremy 12 February 2018 Keira Knightley Matt Smith to star in Official Secrets exclusive ScreenDaily Retrieved 30 June 2021 Kroll Justin 8 March 2018 Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode Join Keira Knightley Thriller Official Secrets EXCLUSIVE Variety Newton Grace 14 March 2018 Keira Knightley Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith film new movie in village near Leeds The Yorkshire Post Retrieved 30 June 2021 White Peter 15 March 2018 Game Of Thrones Indira Varma amp Conleth Hill Join Gavin Hood s Official Secrets Deadline com Retrieved 30 June 2021 Bardsley Andrew 19 March 2018 Manchester transformed into London as Keira Knightley arrives in town for new film Manchester Evening News Retrieved 30 June 2021 Houghton Alistair 28 April 2018 Revealed Why Keira Knightley was spotted in Liverpool Liverpool Echo Retrieved 30 June 2021 Patten Dominic 28 November 2018 Sundance 2019 Premieres Include Harvey Weinstein Docu Mindy Kaling Dr Ruth UK Spies Miles Davis amp Ted Bundy Deadline com Retrieved 30 June 2021 Siegel Tatiana 2 February 2019 Sundance Keira Knightly Whistleblower Drama Official Secrets Acquired by IFC Films The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 30 June 2021 Official Secrets IFC Films Retrieved 30 June 2021 Pederson Erik 2 April 2019 Official Secrets Keira Knightley Ralph Fiennes Whistleblower Thriller Gets Release Date Via IFC Films Deadline Hollywood Retrieved 30 June 2021 Official Secrets Keira Knightley stars in story of Iraq war whistleblower trailer TheGuardian com 12 June 2019 Retrieved 30 June 2021 Official Secrets 2019 Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Retrieved 10 October 2021 Official Secrets Metacritic CBS Interactive Retrieved 30 June 2021 Husseini Sam 30 August 2019 Film Official Secrets Is Tip of Mammoth Iceberg FAIR Retrieved 30 June 2021 Hipes Patrick 4 March 2021 Saturn Awards Nominations Star Wars Rise Of Skywalker Tenet Walking Dead Outlander Lead List Deadline Hollywood Retrieved 30 June 2021 External links editOfficial website Official Secrets at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Official Secrets film amp oldid 1183291497, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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