Official Secrets

Alt + F7.  Mr Spellcheck, friend to anyone who has to use Microsoft word. No matter how thoroughly you check an article by eye you'll always miss something you messed up. It's literally a lifesaver at times. But then other times it will absolutely screw you. Especially if you live in Ireland or the UK....... But a keyboard shortcut isn't the most stressful part of this film. No, that belongs to a printer.

Yup.

2003. Katherine Gun is working for the GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) an intelligence agency who provide information to the British government and the armed forces. The US wants to invade Iraq under false pretences and they want Britain on their side. A nefarious and morally dubious memo is sent out to all GCHQ workers  and Katherine is rather troubled by it. Using her anti war contacts she leaks the memo in an attempt to stop a war happening. It bites her on the arse in a big way. Meanwhile the staff of the Observer newspaper are the ones who get their hands on the leak. But do they risk their integrity and print unverified info?

Underground car parks. Shouting bosses. Paranoia. Am i being followed? Last minute saves. Doing the right thing despite all the danger. There isn't a single thing in Official Secrets that hasn't been done before a 1000 times. So why did i like it so much then? Answer me that. Because it's about an act of simple yet massive heroism. The kind of thing we'd all hope we'd do if we were in the same situation. Most of us wouldn't of course. Most of us are happy to keep our heads in the sand. Not Katherine though and Keira Knightley plays her part with a fierce and fiery conviction that soon turns into abject terror when she realises how it will affect her and her immigrant (yup, of course that comes into play) husband Yasar. I haven't seen her this good in an age.

It's a film you're best off going into cold. The story of Katherine Gun is easily googlable (Is that a word?) but doing so will rob you of the tension of the story and there's plenty of that in there. It's high stakes stuff but it's still grounded and recognisable. Oh shit if my boss catches me i'm boned kind of stuff. Most people will remember the events of that year playing out. The lies, the bullshit spewed, the Colin & Condoleezza gang, the anything goes bully boy attitudes of Tony Blair and George Bush Jr who decided that post 9/11 the rules didn't apply to them. It's a watch that will make you angry at what happened and even angrier when you remember just how much worse the world has gotten in the following 16 years. Of course it's all broadened out and simplified for easier consumption but it's something we should be reminded of. Constantly. Never trust politicians. If their mouth is open they are lying.

It's Knightley's show but a mighty cast of British names help her along the way. Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Indira Varma, Myanna Buring, Rhys Ifans, Ralph Fiennes & Conleith Hill (between this and Dublin Murders he's cornering the market for angry, sweary bossmen) all do excellent work as the people responsible for publishing the leak & dealing with the aftermath. Adam Bakri as Katherine's husband Yasar plays a role that would usually be a tearful wife and does it well, adding dignity and an emotional core to her story. Together they bring a human face to a story that should have stopped a war.

Official Secrets does nothing new but it does it good. It's timely and topical. Well worth a watch. In cinema's now.