The publication of said email on the front page of the Observer not only brought the dirty tricks used to engineer support for Iraq #2 to the world's attention, it also led to Gun being charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act and facing an Old Bailey trial. What it didn't do, alas, was stop a war, a tragic reality that looms over Official Secrets and its attempts to make Gun a fearless free-speech champion. Rendering Gun's actions in simplistic black and white, director Gavin Hood's reductive film is a distinctly televisual recreation, lent more stature than it deserves by its A-list cast. Keira Knightley capably conveys moral certitude, recalling Meryl Streep in Silkwood. There's fine work too from Matt Smith as reporter Martin Bright and Ralph Fiennes as Liberty lawyer Ben Emmerson, though Rhys Ifans borders on caricature as a profanityspewing war correspondent.
The scenes in which Gun is interrogated have a claustrophobic charge, while her fight to stop husband Yasar (Adam Bakri) being extradited raises the tempo. Too often, however, Hood labours to fabricate tension. Meanwhile, Smith is lumbered with an excruciating speech in which he passionately reassures Gun, "What you did matters!" Secrets leaves us doubtful that really was the case
Review of Official Secrets
