Official Secrets
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Official Secrets |
| Original title | Official Secrets |
| Country of production | USA , UK |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2019 |
| length | 112 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gavin Hood |
| script |
Gregory Bernstein , Sara Bernstein , Gavin Hood |
| production |
Ged Doherty , Elizabeth Fowler |
| music |
Paul Hepker , Mark Kilian |
| camera | Florian Hoffmeister |
| cut | Megan Gill |
| occupation | |
| |
Official Secrets is a political thriller by Gavin Hood that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 . The biopic tells the true story of British intelligence officer Katharine Gun , who leaked a top-secret memo from the National Security Agency (NSA) immediately prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 , in which an illegal espionage operation was carried out against members of the United Nations Security Council . Smaller, undecided member states had been blackmailed into voting for war.
action
The film tells the true story of Katharine Gun , a British GCHQ employee who read a top secret NSA memo just before the Iraq invasion in 2003. The document deals with the - illegal - wiretapping of the six non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and their behavior and possible influencing of the vote on a resolution on the war against Iraq tabled by the USA.
Knowledge of the document and the foreseeable consequences plunge her into a serious conflict of conscience. When she was hired, she had to vow by signing the Official Secrets Act that she would not disclose any officially received information. Nevertheless, she eventually leaks the document, which then goes anonymously to Martin Bright , an employee of The Observer . The document is controversially discussed in the editorial conference, and the editor initially doubts - in memory of the Hitler diaries - the authenticity of the document. After much hesitation, the Observer published the story on the front page, which made headlines around the world. The members of the Security Council are outraged, and the chance of a UN resolution in favor of the war seems to be gone. Martin Bright receives requests for interviews from all major US TV channels, but these are withdrawn after a short time without giving a reason. The White House has since taken action and has announced that the document is a forgery, as a document written in the USA would never be written in the English version of the spelling. It turns out that an employee of the Observer had sent the text through a spelling program that removed all Americanisms.
From now on, all GCHQ employees are under suspicion and will be interrogated one after the other by Scotland Yard. Katharine can no longer withstand the pressure and confesses that she is the Observer's informant . The pressure increases: she is arrested, released again, but under surveillance around the clock. Her husband, whose asylum procedure is pending, is being detained for deportation. Her public defender advises her to contact Ben Emmerson . Emmerson accepts her case, although he initially sees little chance of acquittal. The process dragged on for over a year. His strategy of forcing the British government to hand over certain documents that reveal the government's swinging in after massive American pressure on Washington's position results in prosecutors dropping the charges and allowing Katharine to leave the courtroom free.
Original statements by George W. Bush , Tony Blair, and a White House spokesman , broadcast by television stations, are incorporated into the film . The film ends with the original TV images when Katharine Gun leaves the courthouse after her surprising acquittal and declares into the microphones of the assembled press representatives that she would do the same again in the same case.
production
Staff and template
It was directed by South African filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Gavin Hood , who won an Oscar for his 2005 film Tsotsi . Justin Chadwick was originally intended for this role. The film is based on the 2008 book The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion by Marcia and Thomas Mitchell, which tells the true story of British secret service agent Katharine Gun. In January 2016 it became known that a film version of their activities would be made. Hood dramatizes these real events in his film.
Cast and filming
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Tahar Rahim and Gillian Anderson were cast during the Berlin International Film Festival 2016. In January 2018 it was announced that Keira Knightley and Matt Smith would play the lead roles, who play Katharine Gun and Martin Bright in the film . In March 2018, Ralph Fiennes , Matthew Goode , Indira Varma , Conleth Hill and Tamsin Greig joined them. Fiennes took on the role of Ben Emmerson , a British attorney with Crown Attorney status and human rights specialist who served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights. Goode took on the role of Peter Beaumont . Varma plays Shami Chakrabarti , a lawyer and politician with the British Labor Party and a member of the House of Lords who campaigned for civil and human rights from 2003 to 2016. Hill took on the role of Roger Alton , a former editor of The Independent and The Observer and editor-in-chief of The Times . Greig plays Elizabeth Wilmshurst , who resigned from the Foreign Office on March 20, 2003 after the British government passed a resolution by the United Nations Security Council. Hattie Morahan took on the role of the British journalist, war correspondent and Islam converter Yvonne Ridley , who was sent to Afghanistan by her then employer Sunday Express after the 9/11 attacks , after the Taliban had recently urged all foreigners to leave the country. Rhys Ifans plays the British journalist Ed Vulliamy . Adam Bakri , Ray Panthaki and Angus Wright can also be seen in other roles .
Filming began in Yorkshire on March 12, 2018. They took place on March 14, 2018 in the village of Boston Spa. On March 19, 2018, they were relocated to Manchester, which served as the backdrop for London. In April 2018 recordings were made in St. George's Hall in Liverpool.
Film music and publication
The film music was composed by Paul Hepker and Mark Kilian . The soundtrack was released for download by BMG in October 2019.
The film premiered on January 28, 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival and was released in US cinemas on August 23, 2019. At the beginning of August there was a screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival. At the end of September and beginning of October 2019 it was shown at the Hamburg Film Festival . In early October 2019 he was also presented at the London Film Festival . The cinema release in Germany was November 21, 2019.
reception
Reviews
The film was rated rather positively by 82 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics .
Use in school lessons
The online portal kinofenster.de recommends the film from year 9 onwards in the subjects English, Politics, Social Studies, Ethics and German and offers additional work materials in the series Time of Revelations - Current Political Thriller , together with The Report .
Awards
Filmfest Hamburg 2019
- Nomination for the Art Cinema Award ( Gavin Hood )
synchronization
The German synchronization was based on a dialogue book by Michael Schernthaner and the dialogue direction by Cay-Michael Wolf on behalf of SDI Media Germany GmbH, Berlin.
| actor | Voice actor | role |
|---|---|---|
| Keira Knightley | Giuliana Jakobeit | Katharine Gun |
| Matthew Goode | Norman Matt | Peter Beaumont |
| Matt Smith | Tobias Nath | Martin Bright |
| Ralph Fiennes | Udo Schenk | Ben Emmerson |
| Rhys Ifans | Thomas Nero Wolff | Ed Vulliamy |
Web links
- Official Secrets in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official Secrets in the German dubbing index
- Official Secrets in the program of the Sundance Film Festival (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Official Secrets . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 193354 / K).
- ↑ Dave McNary: Berlin: 'A Prophet' Star Tahar Rahim Joins Harrison Ford in 'Official Secrets'. In: Variety, February 12, 2018.
- ↑ https://www.backstage.com/news/casting/uk-greenlit-official-secrets-mrs-lowry-and-son-bbcs-les-miserables-more-start-shooting-next-month-need-talent /
- ↑ https://variety.com/2018/film/news/ralph-fiennes-matthew-goode-keira-knightley-official-secrets-1202721850/
- ↑ https://www.screendaily.com/news/keira-knightley-matt-smith-to-star-in-official-secrets-exclusive/5126481.article
- ↑ https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/keira-knightley-ralph-fiennes-and-matt-smith-film-new-movie-in-village-near-leeds-1-9063549
- ↑ https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/keira-knightley-official-secrets-filming-14428356
- ↑ https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/revealed-keira-knightley-spotted-liverpool-14585073
- ↑ https://filmmusicreporter.com/2019/10/21/official-secrets-soundtrack-released/
- ↑ Official Secrets. In: miff.com.au. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
- ↑ Official Secrets. In: filmfesthamburg.de. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ↑ 63rd BFI London Film Festival program announced. In: bfi.org.uk, August 29, 2019.
- ↑ Start dates Germany In: insidekino.com. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ↑ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/official_secrets
- ↑ https://www.kinofenster.de/themen-dossiers/aktuelles-dossier/dossier-aktuelle-politthriller-official-secrets-film/
- ↑ https://www.kinofenster.de/themen-dossiers/aktuelles-dossier/dossier-aktuelle-politthriller-arbeitsblatt/
- ↑ Nominations: "Art Cinema Award" in: filmfesthamburg.de ( Memento from September 27, 2019 in the Internet Archive )