What do I do? And that was my way in. Thank you! She said, I worry what's going to happen, they'll go, Ooh, I don't know if I like Keira Knightly in blonde hair, what's she done to her nose, does she have glasses on? Because they don't have a comparison to make, until you see her at the end of the movie. Right: Entertainment One, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. It turned out a copyeditor at The Observer had run the memo through spellcheck before printing it.]. Because it was toughthe guy wouldnt print his stuff. Gavin Hood: After the spellcheck. And people do this in every country; they spy, they listen to what are the Chinese going to do when they get to this conference. And she said, Yep, I have no problem being asked to listen in, in instances where I might help prevent a terror attack. What this memo suggested was neither of those things it was a bridge too far for her. So, to find that it would be dramatised on the big screen was as wonderfully welcome as it was astonishing. Instead, the American coalition was On the other hand, she and Ben, to this day, feel they never got their day in court. Where do you draw the line? Donald Trump also is saying he doesn't want war, which is probably true. You can look up Nicole Mowbray, she wrote an article in The Guardian a couple weeks ago, about this worst day of her life. This was her first or second week at the paper. The contents were explosive, implicating America in a blackmail plot to swing UN votes in favor of an invasion. First, I contacted someone to this day Ive never named them who had the details of a journalist and anti-war activist. The decision to leak it was almost instant I felt I had no choice. It was an interesting experience because you couldn't really go bending things the way you thought would be more dramatic, you just have to make the story itself and hope there was enough drama there. She was charged Naturally, I was discreet. Ms Gun worked as a translator at the GCHQ building in Cheltenham, pictured. But George W. Bush did something that, thankfully, Trump hasnt pulled off yet: He took us to war. Before 1989, there had been a Public Interest Defence to protect whistleblowers, but that was altered amid the furore surrounding the sinking of the Argentinian Navy cruiser, the General Belgrano, in the course of the Falklands War. She could easily have been me or you at your place of work, where something comes across your desk and you go, This doesn't smell right. The other was Coleen Rowley, former FBI special agent and counsel at the Minneapolis bureau, who blew the whistle on FBI and other shortcomings But, maybe if I didn't know and maybe if I went into that job and discovered oh my God, maybe I really can stop a terrorist attack today. One by one, all those who received the email approximately 100 people were taken in for a grilling. She made the point that if you have Helen Mirren playing the Queen or Meryl Streep playing Maggie Thatcher, everybody knows those people and your judged on how well you impersonate, if you will, those people. Official Secrets Trailer #1 (2019) | Movieclips Trailers, Imagine Donald Trump Running an Actual War. A script has been doing the rounds in Hollywood for five years. I don't know that consciously it did, it's just that I didn't know the story and so, for me, it was I asked Katharine, I flew to London, I met her for five days. Feel free to republish and share widely. He loves a battle, when it's done with words, boasts, and threats. ", "I think Gavin had a really difficult time telling this story because it doesn't fit into a normal sort of storytelling mode," said Gun. They live on a smallholding, renting a house, in rural Turkey. Gun was visiting friends and family in Cheltenham when I talked to her, with the strain obvious on her face but still looking much younger than her 38 years. The comments below have been moderated in advance. As opposed to trying to be Katharine Gun. It is to say that we need to know the truth behind the decisions to act or not to act. Us, in any situation, wherever you work, I thought that's what this timeless about it. But get out of that trailer as fast as possible, get onto the set, and work from inside? I've seen that happen. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She talks about having read all these books [about the war]. With the operation blown, the chances of George W Bush and Tony Blair getting the consensus for a direct UN mandate for war were now near zero. But I talk to people and there does seem to be a sense of failure that, despite all the campaigning and all the marching and all the protesting and everything they did, it made not a ha'porth of difference. "We started wondering whether we should do the blonde hair and the glasses and wondering about prosthetics, but one point Keira said to me, 'You know, the last thing I want is the audience to say, 'Oh, I don't know if I like her blonde,'" said Hood. Actually, there were two incidents at sea, blamed originally on the North Vietnamese. You are sitting in the intelligence services, and Ive spoken to many now because Ive made other films in that world and I have some interesting folks that Ive been able to talk to, and the struggle was were being disloyal if you dont toe a party line, as it were, but we know this isnt right. Ed, I know some people have said that Rhys Ifans [who plays Vulliamy] is slightly over the top. Copyright 2023 | The American Prospect, Inc. | All Rights Reserved, The Alt-Labor Chronicles: Americas Worker Centers, Official Secrets: A Conversation With Director Gavin Hood. Surely, after 16 years, we are entitled to have answers. Seven times I've submitted articles to you with an alternate point of view, and seven times you've turned me down. I sensed a slight flash of anger as she said: "It's not even a footnote in the history of Iraq." In leaking it to the Observer, she was also doing something unprecedented in the history of espionage. It wasone of the reasons I came to this country in 89 was because we were getting drafted, and I thought I cant do this. We need a truth-sayer. What did you think was going to happen? And when we got to that point in the movie, I had to start montaging it because it was just taking too long to get to the end. Im gratified, too, that the film shows the love and support my husband gave me throughout this ordeal. A transcript, lightly edited with explainers where necessary, follows. It gives me an interesting pause. So, she began to feel uncomfortable in the work she was doing at that point. That means that, in theory, the war could still be classified as an illegal war, Gun says. You might say I am biased. I admitted the leak and my life was turned upside down. It almost started with, well, would I have the courage to do what she did in another setting maybe? This is a story about my life and my leak after all, and I still believe in the issues passionately. Problem number two: Do you shut up or do you speak up? Or at least, she could have been. Hundreds of thousands were killed. Not the truth, but the war. It was like a neon sign that was flashing at me, Gun says. I don't think I've ever met a more determined character and she remained utterly convinced of the justice of her cause: "There's nothing subsequent to the invasion that makes me think it was the right decision made by Bush and Blair." We typically, in the movie business, ever since Joseph Campbell wrote The Hero of A Thousand Facesand Im not meaning to be sarcastic because thats a great piece of work, but it spoiled the idea that every development executive is reading these books because the hero we meet and then something upsets their world and the antagonist that must equal the hero, and eventually we go through these loops and the hero triumphs in the end. We may earn a commission from these links. And I went back in 93 and did another two years with the new Department of Health. That seems like the central undercurrent that is playing throughout the entire film. WebKatharine Gun wasn't looking for attention or any type of notoriety when in 2003, while working as a British intelligence specialist, she leaked a top secret memo. Such a law is not compatible with openness, transparency, accountability and justice. The same countries demanded immediate answers from the British government about its involvement in the spying. She will not talk about it anything else. Today, I believe the Act serves as an illiberal, draconian piece of law, little more than a weapon of the state to deter any disclosure, no matter how much in the public interest it might be. I could put a lens on, and now my job is, this actress is doing great work, lets not get tricky, lets just get the audience into her eyes so that you could see those cogs moving. Daniel Ellsberg, the celebrated American whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers about the build-up to the war in Vietnam, described it as "the most important and courageous leak I have ever seen".He added: "No one else including myself has ever done what Katharine Gun did: tell secret truths at personal risk, before an imminent war, in time, possibly, to avert it.". Moment fitness influencer asks man to move off park bench 'because he's 'ruining her livestream' - but Mortgage demand plummets to a 28-year low as average interest rates hit 6.71% - just as spring home buying Britain braces for brutal -9C Arctic snap: Met Office warns more snow and ice could lash the country next Is YOUR wood burner at risk? WebIn 2003, Katharine Gun exposed a plot by U.S. security officials to spy on United Nations members as they ramped up pressure to secure a resolution to go to war with Iraq, and Did that change your approach to presenting the film knowing that this was actually going to be somewhat of a surprise to people? WebFor example, a scene where Gun tries to get her husband out of an immigration detention center actually played out over three days during which she did not know where he was. He really wouldnt; that scene in the movie really happened. Americans find it hard to believe that it could happen, but it happens, it happens fast. Which is to say that GCHQ was being asked to dig dirt on foreign officials so that they could be blackmailed, bribed or both in order to secure a UN resolution authorising an invasion. "Still no regrets," she said. As it was, a second UN resolution directly to authorise war against Iraq never materialised and air strikes began on 19 March 2003. You took this job and didnt even know what it was. The days and weeks dragged agonisingly by. He is wonderfully articulate but super pissed off, and his PTSDbecause hes been in Iraq for yearsmanifests at just disdain for that certain person you mentioned. Even though she didn't stop the war and some people are like what's the point if she didn't stop the warwell, the point is how do you sleep at night? Throughout her own court case, what only a few knew was that she was also fighting for The movie tells the story of Katharine Gun (played by Keira Knightley), a translator with the U.K.'s GCHQ who, in 2003, leaked top secret documents to journalist Martin Bright (Matt Smith) that revealed that the American government's plans to apply pressure on members of the U.N. Security Counsel to pass its war resolution. Rishi Sunak is urgently reviewing his private exchanges with Matt Hancock after bombshell leak of ex-Health 'Drinks cold in fridge at DH!' And then, she said when she got in therenow bear in mind that she still is bound by the Official Secrets Act. Later, it turned out that the Attorney General had indeed judged the war to be illegal in his initial advice, but that fact was not revealed until six years later in 2010. Perhaps they don't trust him to keep his word. Its Straussian, over the top and pretentious but basically amounts to this. There were some audience questions as well. By Katharine Gun, Gchq Whistleblower For The Mail On Sunday, Published: 22:33 GMT, 26 October 2019 | Updated: 16:47 GMT, 8 November 2019. Gavin Hood: Its a question of how conditioned are we to the conventional Hollywood structure. During the American-lead 2003 campaign for United Nations support for an invasion of Iraq, Gun, who's played in the film by Keira Knightley, was a 28 year-old Mandarin translator working for the UKs Government Communications Headquarters, the nations equivalent of the American NSA. You have the UN resolution, we're all doing this together to stop the genocide or something, or it's self-defense, we're going to be attacked, it's so clear we're going to be attacked that we have to take pre-emptive action. Our institutions matter. "Obviously, we are compressing a story that took place in real life over a period of a year into two hours. And I didnt have work where I was. Theres not a lot of work for translators; shes a Mandarin translator in England. There's an obvious scene of the immigration deportation. Truth and accountability were drilled into me as a child. When Official Secrets received its British premiere at Londons BFI Film Festival earlier this month, I was determined to wear something that held a special meaning and settled on a dress by an Iraqi designer. "There seems to be this blas attitude the spying goes on, everyone does it and so it's nothing to get all hot under the collar about. Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture. Gavin Hood: Yes, it really sticks in my throat too. Gavin Hood: Thats such an interesting statement, I mean, I just took it at face value that papers take an editorial position, but youre right. If there had been a UN resolution, there would have been no need to make a WMD argument because there are two legal ways to go to war. We had planned to demand that the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith disclose the advice he had given on the legality of the war and so put the war itself on trial. When do the clocks change in 2023? To me, it was a way of showing that Iraq cannot be dismissed as a horror show of suffering, but is an ancient and sophisticated culture that goes back thousands of years. To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page. President Bush visits the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland, January 25, 2006. Last week in Los Angeles, I got to interview the director, South African-born Gavin Hood, after a screening. In one pivotal scene in the film, all of Gun and Bright's work is nearly undone by one mistake, as a member of The Observer team accidentally changed the American spelling of the memo into British spelling, something The Drudge Report then used to discredit the memo. And that's quite a depressing place to find yourself in when you feel so strongly and passionately about something. I know what it is like to watch the system become completely authoritarian. Marcia Mitchell is a writer, researcher, and the author of "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion." And maybe if we went to work for Enron and we liked our job well enough, and its a job. "And she then said: 'My way into this is what would I as the unadorned, no-makeup, no-fancy-edges Keira Knightley what would I feel like if this memo landed on my desk?'". I was 27 when it all began. So Im very proud of Keiras performance and I dont mind that she doesnt have blonde hair. If we give over, if we start believing the fake news, as you say, we're all doomed, man. However, she is not without disappointment about how little obvious difference she made. Id immediately be transported back to GCHQ and that email the anger I felt and the decisions I made. '", "The scene where all of us receive this email and we're discussing the memo, that never happened. The poor woman is based on a real person. Whistleblower and former employee of Britain's global surveillance center GCHQ (Government Communications Head Quarters) Katharine Gun smiles as she speaks to the media during a press conference February 25, 2004 in London, England. "That really happened," Hood confirmed, though it did not go quite as it is shown in the film. The difficulties of translating Gun's story also made writing the climax of the film tricky. However, when her friends start being interrogated about the leak, Gun confesses to being the whistleblower, leading to her being arrested and taken to court for breaching the Official Secrets Act. He said she didnt even know what the job was. Gun, her husband, and their four-year-old daughter shed their coveted privacy long enough to allow Katharine to be one of two former Sam Adams Award winners to present this year's award. A thorough investigation began as soon as the staff started arriving at GCHQ on the Monday morning. So somehow in my rolodex, sometimes they sought me out. I actually think the little memo lands on our lap more often than we think, even if it's just who I should vote for. As a result, there never was any second UN resolution. And maybe they were right, I don't know. Abandoned blue sleeping bag, tents and several wooden shelters are found in woodland close to where police Don't just stick to the Malbec! Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. This, despite credible evidence that Iran was in full compliance with terms of the agreement. WebGun sacrificed so much when she decided to leak and has worked only intermittently since. This is my second brief moment of fame. And we keep that system alive. Progressive values. As the working day came to close, I tried to project a sense of calm I didnt feel, walked out of the gates and put the incriminating email in the post. Never mind that invading another country for the purpose of regime change is illegal according to international laws to which the United States is a signatory. She went to this interview, the next minute were down this rabbit hole, the next minute my wifes telling the world. It remains entirely to the credit of Roger Alton, at the time the paper's editor, that he stuck with the story, despite its potential implications. We must not be flummoxed by exaggerated claims of threats against America and our interests. Interestingly I think we faced a challenge, which some of you may or may not agree with. David Dayen: I want to go to the questions now. WebWhistleblower Katherine Gun, right, is played by Keira Knightly in the movie Official Secrets View gallery Gun was outraged after she learned - as part of her job with GCHQ - that It left me in an impossible predicament. After the charges against her were dropped in 2004, she found it difficult to find a new What we have in this country is very precious, and in a sense, when I make these kind of films I don't know if I consciously do it, it's actually reminding about us that authoritarianism and governments gone awry are not okay, and what makes us strongoh, that sounds terribly pretentious, but I think you see where I'm coming from. Yet here was a story that had the capacity to derail the war altogether. She had been following that war, as many of us had, for a year. But that shouldn't be the philosophy pre-war when you're trying to decide whether to go to war. Most whistleblowers leak after the event to expose perceived wrongdoing. Who, one must ask, is provoking whom? This and her other writings about intelligence issues have been critically acclaimed. This whole intelligence didn't match what the politicians were saying. By printing off the memo, putting it in her handbag and taking it home, she was already committing a serious breach of the Official Secrets Act. If Keira Knightleys remarkable performance in Official Secrets can help change that, the film will truly have been worthwhile. Was the British government aware of it? Though celebrated Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg would later call Guns actions the most important and courageous leak in history due to her efforts to save lives through preventing a war, she obviously didnt succeed in stopping the invasion. "But the more I think about what happened, the more angry and frustrated I get about the fact that nobody acted on intelligence. Iran, of course, isn't interested in dealing with him. But, did it change the way I approached it? "You get to the end, and there's this court case. Much to the distress of our former partners in the Iran nuclear deal, Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement and announced tougher sanctions. What the politicians were saying minute were down this rabbit hole, the war could still classified. An alternate point of view, and seven times I 've submitted articles to you an. Bridge too far for her court case a period of a journalist and anti-war activist timeless about it..! This email and we 're all doomed, man director, South African-born gavin Hood: Yes it! And Culture not even a footnote in the movie really happened, '' Hood confirmed, though it did go. A job Trump Running an Actual war that Rhys Ifans [ who plays Vulliamy ] slightly... 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