A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 3 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAs the credits roll (after showing the names of those who appeared on film), additional information are revealed. Winston Churchill's quote of "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies" "To Annia" As he worked for the MI5, Pujol's telephone was tapped and his private correspondence underwent censorship. He was never left alone. He could only use invisible ink under the supervision of a member of the Secret service. He never met any other agent, entered the MI5 premises, or knew his position in the Organization. He never tried to find out more, or ever complained. After the War, MI5 wanted Pujol to spy on Russia. For unknown reasons, he did not accept. He spent all his fortune on land in Venezuela. In 1948, his property was assaulted and destroyed. He sold it at a quarter of the value. Juan Pujol managed to fight two wars serving both sides. Never fired a single shot. His vivid imagination produced over 50 volumes of writings. Thus he spared thousands of lives. On both sides.
Featured review
Great story, less than great documentary
This story is one of the more memorable footnotes to World War II - the tale of Joan Pujol Garcia, a man who ends up being a double-agent during a pivotal moment in history. And his appearance on the world stage couldn't be more important: his counterintelligence was designed to undermine the D-Day invasion.
It's obviously not a big-budget documentary, but uses a variety of talkies and newsreel footage to round out the story. The cast of interviewees is relatively small; and the inclusion of inappropriate (or confusing) sound effects and garbled film editing makes for a less than compelling story. The story itself was the most memorable segment in Ben Macintre's Operation Zigzag, and the film's running length of 88 minutes suggests that the filmmaker had run out of material. If only he'd read Macintire's book first.
It's obviously not a big-budget documentary, but uses a variety of talkies and newsreel footage to round out the story. The cast of interviewees is relatively small; and the inclusion of inappropriate (or confusing) sound effects and garbled film editing makes for a less than compelling story. The story itself was the most memorable segment in Ben Macintre's Operation Zigzag, and the film's running length of 88 minutes suggests that the filmmaker had run out of material. If only he'd read Macintire's book first.
helpful•94
- poikkeus
- Mar 7, 2013
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Garbo: El espía
- Filming locations
- Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain(Studio)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $28,563
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,593
- Nov 20, 2011
- Gross worldwide
- $356,050
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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