World War II has long gifted cinema with a wealth of heroic, unusual and downright astonishing stories … but none is more bizarre or audacious than this one.
In early 1943, the Allies desperately sought a means to break the Nazi stranglehold on mainland Europe, but the only feasible route appeared to be invading Sicily and then pushing northward. Unfortunately, this lone option was tooobvious; Hitler also recognized it as the likely approach, and was fully prepared to thwart such an effort with the full might of the German army. The loss of Allied lives would have been incalculable.
Having been fully briefed about the necessary parameters, North London coroner
Bentley Purchase (Paul Ritter, center) pulls out a cadaver that might suit the requirements
of Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth, far right) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen).
A few years earlier, Lt. Cmdr. Ian Fleming — then assigned to Rear Adm. James Godfrey, head of British naval intelligence — had drafted what came to be known as the “Trout Memo.” (Yes, that Ian Fleming. Seriously.)
The memo — “Trout,” as in hoping to fool the Nazis hook, line and sinker — contained 54 suggested schemes designed to deceive the Axis Powers. Item 28 was a macabre ploy that Fleming lifted from 1937’s The Milliner’s Hat Mystery, one of several Inspector Richardson mysteries by British author Basil Thomson.
So, consider: A now-obscure novelist gives British naval intelligence the idea for a daring act of real-world espionage duplicity, as proposed by an officer — Fleming — who would go on to create the world’s best-known fictitious secret agent.
No surprise, then, that this legendary bit of WWII lore would appeal to director John Madden, who similarly played with the historical line between real and make-believe, in 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. Michelle Ashford’s engaging script is adapted from Ben Macintyre’s meticulously researched 2010 nonfiction bestseller of the same title.
The resulting film is fascinating. Ashford has done an impressive job of condensing the many key details, without losing track of the saga’s complexity … and while adding a few fictitious embellishments for dramatic intensity. (I’d argue they were unnecessary, but opinions might differ.)
The key players here are barrister-turned-naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth); Royal Air Force flight lieutenant-turned-MI5 counter-intelligence agent Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen); Godfrey (Jason Isaacs), who oversaw what eventually developed into “Operation Mincemeat”; MI5 clerk Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald), who played a key role in the scheme; and MI5 head secretary Hester Leggett (Penelope Wilton), whose talent for credible love letters also proved crucial.
By this point, gentle readers wholly unfamiliar with Operation Mincemeat likely are wondering what the heck this story is on about.
The plan, then:
Montagu and Cholmondeley are tasked with finding a male corpse, and dressing it up as an officer of the Royal Marines; loading the body with personal items — cheekily dubbed “pocket litter” — that identified him as the fictitious Capt. William Martin; and attaching a dispatch case filled with naval intelligence correspondence discussing the upcoming (equally fictitious) Allied plans to invade Greece and Sardinia.
The body then will be carefully dumped off the southern coast of Spain, where it will wash ashore and (hopefully) come to the attention of the (sorta-kinda) neutral Spanish government, which routinely shares intel with German military intelligence.
Then hope — and pray — that the Nazis will believe that the Allies don’t intend to invade via Sicily.
One cannot catalogue all the challenges involved with such a scheme, or the myriad ways in which it might go awry.
Madden and Ashford slide deftly between two simultaneous plotlines: the complex challenge of crafting a believable identity and back-story for the ersatz Capt. Martin, and the emotional impact this has on those tasked with said assignment. This duality — the “real” war versus the “shadow” war — is at the heart of this film’s framing device, which finds Fleming (Johnny Flynn) typing up, and occasionally commenting upon, these events.
(At one point, Montagu archly observes that everybody involved seems to be writing a book.)
Leslie, selected to become “Martin’s girlfriend Pam,” supplies a key photo of herself, to be included among the crucial pocket litter. Crafting this fabricated relationship initially becomes a game for Montagu and Leslie, but the increasingly intimate details spill over into their real lives, with genuine feelings developing between the two … much to the chagrin of Cholmondeley, quietly carrying his own torch for the young woman.
British reserve being what it is, there’s no shortage of unexpressed, silently agonized glances from both Firth and Macfadyen. Macdonald, an equally nuanced actress, leaves no doubt that Leslie senses such feelings, with her response similarly unresolved.
It could be argued, however, that the increasing degree of emotional and professional angst overcooks the melodrama.
Montagu’s wife (Hattie Morahan) and two children have decamped to the safety of the United States, a parting further complicated by a growing distance between husband and wife. Cholmondeley, disheartened by the poor eyesight that prevented his becoming an airman, further chafes over being the “lesser son” all but overlooked by his mother (Ellie Haddington), who constantly grieves over his brother, killed in action.
Jean further complicates matters by becoming involved — maybe, maybe not — with an American serviceman (Lorne Macfadyen) who’s the spitting image of the fabricated Capt. Martin (and therefore ideal for ID photos). Montagu’s feckless brother, Ivor (Mark Gatiss), a known communist sympathizer, is suspected of being a Soviet agent; Godfrey therefore orders Cholmondeley to spy on Ewen (!) while they work together.
Matters definitely get a bit breathless, which occasionally distracts from the fascinating development of the plan. Firth and Macfadyen have fun with gallows humor, during their early search for a suitable corpse; the tone is similarly ghoulish when they eventually enlist the aid of London coroner Bentley Purchase (Paul Ritter, wonderfully droll with his deadpan comments).
Simon Russell Beale is appropriately arch as Winston Churchill, who — to Godfrey’s surprise — admires the scheme for its outrageous boldness.
And as if all this weren’t crazy enough, MI5 chauffeur and former professional racecar drive Jock Horsfall (Mark Bonnar) has a crucial part of the increasingly suspenseful third act.
All of these individuals — from Montagu and Jean Leslie, to Hester Leggett and Horsfall — are actual historical figures, each of whom played the key roles depicted here.
The sense of time and place feels rigorously authentic. Production designer John Paul Kelly does a particularly fine job with the dingy, cluttered, cigarette smoke-laden central London basement “operations room” where this mad scheme come together. Thomas Newman’s orchestral score augments the melodramatic touches, while also enhancing the mounting tension as we move into the final act.
This isn’t the first time these events have become a movie. Montagu wrote about Operation Mincemeat in his 1953 book The Man Who Never Was, which was turned into a less accurate film three years later; Clifton Webb starred as Montagu, but Cholmondeley and all the other authentic individuals are nowhere to be seen.
Historical accuracy and the top-notch cast make this new adaptation more engaging, proving — once again — that truth really is stranger than fiction.
John Madden’s "remake" of Operation Mincemeat and Ben Macintyre’s novel make for great viewing and reading. The Madden film is based on Macintyre’s novel, and they are both a fake news aficionado’s paradise when it comes to trying to differentiate layer after layer of fact and fiction. Nevertheless, as with many war or espionage thrillers like the Ipcress File it's a shame the film industry is producing yet more remakes. If success is to breed success the film industry must not polish old gems but mine for new ones. In these genres, examples of such new gems include Mick Herron’s Slow Horses from the Slough House stable and Beyond Enkription, the first fact based spy thriller in The Burlington Files series by Bill Fairclough. They are both great reads. The celluloid adaptation of Slow Horses looks destined to become an anti-Bond classic. As for The Burlington Files let’s hope the film industry hears of it. Not being a remake this enigmatic and elusive thriller may have eluded you.
ReplyDeleteAgree wholeheartedly on "Slow Horses," a thoroughly engaging, gripping, suspenseful and superbly acted series. Looking forward to the next round!
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