Red Joan (2019) Review!!!

Synopsis – The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the KGB’s longest-serving British spy.

My Take – Several books and films have told us stories about how people working for the Soviet intelligence infiltrated English speaking countries, their governments, their agencies and their lifestyles. This film too belongs in the same vein, set in the 1930s, with the English society contaminated with communist sympathizers, and how they played a part in the missile race.

Inspired by the true story of Melita Norwood, a British civilian turned KGB informant, who passed on classified information from her scientific research job, until she was uncovered in her 80s. Her story was novelized by author Jessica Rooney in 2014, whose work has now been adapted by writer Lindsay Shapiro for the big screen and helmed by noted theatre director Trevor Nunn.

Unfortunately, despite a story revolving around spying and espionage, it is quite surprising how awfully dull and watered down the film feels, and nowhere near the tense drama it was supposed to be. Instead it is a third or fourth-rate romance film with a sprinkle of spy drama for good measure.

The shoddily written script bears a lot of blame, along with the fact that it is helmed by a 79 year old British director, who returns to the big screen after a 22 year absence, just seems, simply out of touch.

Another hampering factor is how the film was sold as Judi Dench is a spy story. Instead we are presented with Dench‘s older lead character just reacting to reenactments and memories of her actions.

The story follows Joan Stanley (Judi Dench), an octogenarian widow, who is suddenly accosted by the British Secret Service in her suburban London home. Charged with treason, that has only come to light after the death of a former associate, for passing on several classified scientific documents to the Soviet government for decades, including Britain’s plans for the atom bomb.

While her grown son, Nick (Ben Miles), a barrister with a prominent position in government immediately assumes the charges are ridiculous, but the reality is far from what they are being told. Back in 1930s, a younger Joan (Sophie Cookson), had joined Cambridge at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Being intelligent and underestimated by many of the men around her, she was often able to move free of detection, until she meets Sonya (Tereza Srbova), and finds herself falling into the university’s young Communist crowd, mainly due to her attraction to its leading member, Sonya’s cousin, Leo Galich (Tom Hughes), a Jewish German refugee. For a long while, Joan is never sure if their meeting and relationship was by chance or if she was recruited for her access and knowledge, but over the years, as Leo disappears and reappears in her life.

However, her intelligence sees her graduating from university with a degree in physics and an excellent reputation making her a strong candidate for Britain’s version of the Manhattan Project. And when Leo is away, Joan begins to fall for co-worker Max Davis (Stephen Campbell Moore), but with her gender and all the biases that come with it also make her an attractive recruit for the KGB who covet the nuclear secrets their WWII allies claim to be sharing with them but have long since stopped, in order to reach the finish line of the nuclear race, before them.

This is an exciting premise in many ways, but everything about the film feels limp. The story is potentially fascinating, as Joan isn’t portrayed as unequivocally pro-Communist, but pro-fairness. However, Shapiro’s clipped script and Nunn’s prosaic direction fail to provide any insight.

Even Joan’s attraction to Leo and Max remains polite and passionless, undermining Joan further. It all makes for a decidedly underwhelming experience. Sure it is moderately engaging, but the tension here is secondary to sparking a debate about loyalty to country versus global safety. It seems pretty clear which side of the argument the filmmakers land on, which is unnecessarily heavy handed and told in a clumsy way.

What’s worse, despite holding a promise of being quit a tense thriller, it shows little interest in being thrilling. Spying can be dangerous business, but the film never lets you feel that.

Even as it literally tells us that the price of treason in Britain is hanging or shows us what happens to one of Joan’s lovers who is suspected of not being loyal to the cause, a viewer’s pace never quickens. The story structure hardly helps things. Every time we cut from the past to the present, what little tension has been built, escapes like air out a pierced tire.

The film does attempt some gravitas posing questions of patriotism and idealism, love and deception, and duty to one’s country and one’s family. And add to that a romantic story, which may hide a manipulation of sentiments for political purposes, and the very actual cinema theme of the role of women in a men-dominated world (that of science). All the premises for a fascinating film are here.

Unfortunately, none of these promises realizes, and none of the questions get an adequate response. Director Trevor Nunn chose to treat this whole story at the level of a routine espionage film or series, moving from one subject to another, and addressing them all superficially. The characters have no depth, we do not find out anything credible about the motivation of betrayal.

The film does make an effort at least to ensure clarity over Joan’s reasoning for supplying the Russians with such British intelligence. Her anger and shame over the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and her desire for a level world playing field with nuclear weapons are her motivators, not Leo’s seductive power or her naivety. Still, this is the only glimpse into Joan’s actual personality on offer.

I have no idea why Judi Dench would sign up for such a role, as most of role consists of heavy sighs of nostalgia and remorse as the focus primarily rests on her younger counterpart. Her younger counterpart, Sophie Cookson, initially struggles but then gets a grasp as soon as her character begins to traverse over the period.

Surprisingly it is Ben Miles, who in the role of her grown up son brings the only form of emotional heat to the present-day scenes. While Tom Hughes keeps getting creepier each time he says ‘my little comrade’. In supporting roles, Stephen Campbell Moore, Freddie Gaminara and Tereza Srbova are excellent. On the whole, ‘Red Joan’ is a strangely ham-fisted and bland thriller that marks as a lost opportunity and a waste of talent.