![]() ![]() Gun initially hoped she might be able to stop that war and expose the lapdog subservience of Blair's government to American power. under Tony Blair hoped to strong-arm the UN Security Council into authorizing the invasion of Iraq. We'll let Gun herself tell you the story of how she accidentally learned about a nefarious 2003 blackmail scheme, through which the U.S. ![]() (She didn't actually tell me that, because she can say very little about the nature of her work, which is normal for former spooks.)Ī comparison to Snowden is relevant because Katharine Gun is also a famous national-security whistleblower, although the secrets she revealed had nothing to do with her work at GCHQ. She was a Mandarin-language scholar who landed for a while at GCHQ, the British government's cognate to the NSA, where she presumably tracked "signals intelligence" going back and forth between the U.K. It's accurate enough to describe Gun as a former British intelligence officer, but that sounds way more glamorous than her actual work.Ī pleasant, highly intelligent woman with a distracted manner and way too much modesty - she told me twice that she thought Edward Snowden was much smarter than she was, which could be disputed - Gun essentially is what she looks like, that being a middle-aged academic. Official Secrets is produced by Screen Yorkshire and Entertainment One with distribution by IFC films.As Katharine Gun told me during our "Salon Talks" conversation, being played by Keira Knightley in a movie was approximately the last thing she ever thought might happen to her. ![]() The Iraq War and its horrendous casualties were built on lies. Katherine Gun was valiant, but the press and public at large did not act responsibly to question leadership. The leak of the memo and the events that follow are presented with near documentary precision. The characters are introduced with their names and titles. Official Secrets has no gunplay, sensational intrigue, or violence of any sort. Official Secrets is powerfully dramatic.ĭirector Gavin Hood ( X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ender's Game) keeps the film grounded. They desperately wanted the truth to be known, but understood the severity of Gun's charges. Matt Smith and Ralph Fiennes lend gravitas in critical supporting roles. Gun and her husband are branded traitors, then put through the ringer as their lives are dissected. She leaks the memo to preserve lives and stop the war, but was entirely naive about the repercussions. Initially she's furious at the lies seen on TV and newspapers. Keira Knightley portrays Gun through a broad range of emotions. The characters are thoughtfully explored as they tangle with the political bombshell and real world consequences of the memo. Official Secrets is brilliantly acted by a top tier cast. Fight the charges for truth and patriotism, but risk being made an example by a wrathful government. Plead guilty, and maybe the judge will be lenient as the war had descended into chaos with no WMDs found. Her lawyer (Ralph Fiennes) gave her a stark choice. Her immigrant husband (Adam Bakri) became a target for retribution. She had broken the Official Secrets act and faced decades in prison. Katherine Gun found herself in custody for treason. ![]() They printed an incendiary article questioning the intelligence sources and reasoning for the Iraq War. The document ended up with reporters (Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, and Rhys Ifans) at The Observer newspaper. She decided to leak the NSA memo to a friend in the anti-war movement. Gun knew the intelligence was not there to support that claim. Bush, had been rallying for war with the threat of Iraqi WMDs as the cause. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, much like President George W. The goal being to force their votes to affirm a war resolution against Iraq. They were tasked with spying on specific members of the UN Security Council. Katherine Gun and her colleagues were stunned by a classified memo from the US National Security Agency (NSA). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |