Operation Mincemeat
A fascinating episode of the Second World War is brought to life with a superlative cast on board.
Kelly Macdonald and Matthew Macfadyen
The title of John Madden's latest film might well seem incongruous given that this is a true-life tale about a major deceit pulled off by the British in 1943 to mislead Hitler. However, the film’s title is indeed the codename which was used for the operation in question, a scheme devised to make the Germans believe that the then anticipated landing by the Allies in Europe would take place in Greece even though the likely spot - and the correct one - was Sicily. In its early stages the name given to it was Operation Trojan Horse but, since that might suggest something of what was afoot, Operation Mincemeat was adopted instead, any incongruity being deliberate.
The plan that was developed involved finding a dead body and then disguising the corpse as that of an officer washed up in Spain carrying what would appear to be top secret documents naming Greece as the forthcoming landing place. The expectation was that once the body came ashore, apparently as a victim of a plane crash but actually released from a submarine, the papers would be discovered and sent on to the German high-ups. It was not until 1996 that a key document was declassified leading to fuller details of this operation emerging thus enabling the historian Ben Macintyre to write a book. It became a bestseller when published in 2010. He called it Operation Mincemeat and the filmmakers doubtless kept the title believing that those who knew the book might well be drawn to a film treatment.
As it happens the basic story had been filmed before, but that was back in 1956 and it was a fictional piece to the extent that it was adapted from a book written by Ewen Montagu who, having been a leading figure in Operation Mincemeat, could write a story based on that event but was nevertheless prohibited from revealing details not then in the public domain. That film was The Man Who Never Was and my expectation was that Madden’s film, written by Michelle Ashford and crediting Macintyre's book as its source, would adopt if not an altogether documentary tone then at least a realistic one. But, unexpectedly, what we have on the screen is more of a yarn: early on the film incorporates a reference to the adventure tales of John Buchan.
This approach while surprising proves effective on its own terms for the first half of the film aided by Madden’s direction which makes good use of intercutting and montage to speed the narrative along. The setting may be London in 1943, but this film has a verve that prevents it from seeming like a movie that might have been made then and that may well add to its appeal for younger audiences given that this real life story is an absorbing one. From the start we are placed alongside the planners and their aids. Among them are Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth), Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen), Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald), Hester Leggett (Penelope Wilton) and the author Ian Fleming (Johnny Flynn) who was at the time working for Naval Intelligence. We duly hate Admiral John Godfrey (Jason Isaacs) who delights in pouring cold water on the scheme and cheer when Winston Churchill (Simon Russell Beale) is ready to support it.
So far, so good. But then the popular tone adopted is further given its head and gets out of hand by focussing on a romantic triangle. As portrayed here, Charles Cholmondeley falls for Jean Leslie who falls for the much older Ewen Montagu while Montagu himself, despite having a wife and children who have been evacuated to America, comes to admit to feelings for Jean. Good though his performance is, Colin Firth starts to come over as the romantic figure that the actor has cut ever since he appeared on TV as Mr Darcy for at this stage the romantic triangle invented for the film is allowed to seem as central as Operation Mincemeat itself.
This desire for popular appeal increasingly sends the film awry in the second half. The sudden arrival of an enigmatic stranger who appears to be in the know comes over not as genuinely disturbing but as unlikely and melodramatic. There would be ironic twists and turns in Spain as to whether or not the fake secret papers would indeed reach the Germans as intended. The reality took on an absurd edge at this point but in depicting it tension should be there too and here there is an inappropriate sense of something closer to farce. Operation Mincemeat remains a good tale performed by a good cast and on its own chosen terms the film works competently for at least half of its length, but subsequently this overlong film comes to seem increasingly off-kilter. Anyone wanting to get to the heart of the extraordinary events depicted here should seek out Ben Macintyre’s excellent book which is far more satisfying.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn, Jason Isaacs, Mark Gatiss, Hattie Morahan, Mark Bonnar, Paul Ritter, Alex Jennings, Simon Russell Beale, James Fleet, Nicholas Rowe, Will Keen, Charlotte Hamblin, Lorne MacFadyen, Rufus Wright, Jonjo O'Neill, Ruby Bentall, Ellie Haddington, Simon Rouse, Amy Marston, Markus von Lingen.
Dir John Madden, Pro Charled S. Cohen, Emile Sherman and Kris Thykier, Screenplay Michelle Ashford, from the book by Ben Macintyre, Ph Sebastian Blemkov, Pro Des John Paul Kelly, Ed Victoria Boydell, Music Thomas Newman, Costumes Andrea Flesch.
See-Saw Films/Cohen Media Group/Archery Pictures/Film Nation Entertainment-Warner Bros.
128 mins. USA/UK. 2021. UK Rel: 15 April 2022. US Rel: 11 May 2022. Cert. 12A.
