Page 12 - Boca Exposure - April '20

Page 12, Boca Exposure
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VICE PRESIDENT / INVESTMENTS
Film Review:
Official Secrets
By Nils A. Shapiro to her superior, hides the
The term “whistleblower” elicits different reactions copy when leaving her
from different people, depending on the nature of the office ... and brings it to
information released and, generally, whether the act
a friend whom she knows
involved supports or harms the political views of the to be an activist with a
individual whose opinion is being sought. To some, Edward
peace organization.
Snowden is a hero, to others a traitor ... and the same can When the document
be said of the as yet unnamed person who euphemistically is turned over to the
let the world listen in on Donald Trump’s “not so perfect”
London newspaper,
phone call with the President of Ukraine. The Observer, another
Whatever the situation, it can fairly be said that the
individual is faced with
life of a whistleblower almost always becomes very a momentous decision:
the paper’s editor. Is the
difficult once the deed is done. So the motivation for such
an act must be strong indeed – and that is the subject of document real? How
Official Secrets, a film based on true events that took was it obtained and
place in England in 2003 as the United Kingdom was
from whom? At first,
works gearing up to join the United States in the George W. Bush it’s too dangerous for Katharine Gun to admit being the
Administration’s preparation for war with Iraq.
whistleblower. The paper runs it as a front-page banner
the political division here at home, as our government headline story, attracts worldwide attention ... but then
Readers of this review column need no reminder about
faces immediate pushback when charged with publishing
pushed its case for the need to rid Saddam Hussein of his a false story.
Eventually, Katharine Gun’s personal courage is what
“weapons of mass destruction.” A similar divisiveness becomes necessary, as she must decide whether or not to
was playing out at the highest levels in London, with one
and faction headed by Prime Minister Tony Blair siding with confess voluntarily in order for the validity of the document
to be known. The film makes abundantly and dramatically
Bush and another highly skeptical of the claims emanating
from Washington. As tensions reached a boiling point, a clear that when a government wants to exert punishment
– in order to dissuade others from taking the same actions
vote at the United Nations on whether or not to support an
actual conflict became critical. – cruelty knows no bounds.
In the office of the top-secret British Government
When a human rights legal organization takes
Communications Headquarters in London a young Katharine’s case to defend her in court, attorney Ben
woman, Katharine Gun (portrayed beautifully in the film Emmerson (the ever brilliant Ralph Fiennes), in the
by Keira Knightley), served as one of several translators film’s most revealing and fulfilling scene, draws from the
of documents that arrive in a number of languages from young woman a simple explanation that serves to help us
throughout the world, and which are then turned over to understand the mind of a whistleblower.
the appropriate personnel. Considering the timeliness of this important film –
When one of those documents came across her when the subject of how to treat a whistleblower filled our
computer from a Frank Koza, identified as Chief of Staff headlines and news broadcasts for most of last year – and
at the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C., the outstanding performances of the actors who brought this
its message shocked her: She recognized it as a request true story to the screen, it is most surprising that it failed
for British government officials to assist in blackmailing to receive even a mention at the recent Academy Awards.
certain United Nations delegates in order to force them to Official Secrets was released in the United States in
support the U.S. decision to invade Iraq! April 2019. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Faced with a crisis of conscience – should she betray her The film received the Cinema for Peace Heroes Award on
country by revealing a top-secret document or do nothing Feb. 8 at the Heroes Event in Los Angeles, which takes
and possibly be responsible for the loss of many lives? Her place each year to coincide with the Berlin Film Festival
job and perhaps prison were on the line – Katharine Gun to honor films of special humanitarian or environmental
furtively makes a copy of the document before delivering it merit.
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