OPERATION MINCEMEAT [2021 / 2022] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Based On The Extraordinary True Story!
It’s 1943. The Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe, and plan to launch an all-out assault on Sicily; but they face an impossible challenge – how to protect the invasion force from potential annihilation. It falls to two remarkable intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu [Colin Firth] and Charles Cholmondeley [Matthew Macfadyen] to dream the most inspired and improbable disinformation strategy of the war – centred on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man. ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ is the extraordinary and true story of an idea that hoped to turn the tide for the Allies – taking impossibly high risks, defying logic, and testing the nerves of its creators to breaking point.
FILM FACT: The film had its world premiere at the 2021 British Film Festival in Australia, and was released in the United Kingdom on the 15th April, 2022 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was released on Netflix in North American and Latin American countries on the 11th May, 2022. In addition, other notable historical figures are briefly included in the film, with Alexander Beyer as Karl Kuhlenthal, Nico Birnbaum as Colonel Alexis von Roenne, and Pep Tosar as Admiral Moreno. Principal photography began in December 2019 between London and Spain. Filming locations include a battle scene at Saunton Beach in North Devon in February 2020 and a scene in Málaga in March 2021. The film was Paul Ritter’s final appearance prior to his death, and it is dedicated to his memory. Although the main thrust of the film is historically accurate, the filmmakers made some omissions and additions that were not in Ben Macintyre's book “Operation Mincemeat” and they were as follows: One addition was the creation of a fictional sub-plot involving a love triangle between Ewen Montagu, Charles Cholmondeley, and Jean Leslie. One omission was the exclusion of the significance of the role of Alexis von Roenne in ensuring that the fake documents came to Adolf Hitler's attention.
Cast: Colin Firth, Rufus Wright, Matthew Macfadyen, Ruby Bentall, Kelly Macdonald, Charlotte Hamblin, Jason Isaacs, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn, Lorne MacFadyen, Mark Gatiss, Caspar Jennings, Hattie Morahan, Dolly Gadsdon, Simon Russell Beale, Michael Bott, Alex Jennings, Ellie Haddington, Paul Lancaster, Simon Rouse, Paul Ritter, Amy Marston, Jonjo O'Neill, Gabrielle Creevy, Nicholas Rowe, Will Keen, Alexander Beyer, Markus von Lingen, Nico Birnbaum, James Fleet, Mark Bonnar, Javier Godino, Pedro Casablanc, Laura Morgan, Miguel Guardiola, Pep Tosar, Alba Brunet, Óscar Zafra, Brett Boro, Helena Collins O'Connor, Lin Gallagher (Audio Description voice), Adolf Hitler (archive footage), Ben Vincent, Jeremy Azis (uncredited), om Barnett (uncredited), Pierre Bergman (uncredited), Christine Callaghan (uncredited), Allan Cook (uncredited), Stuart Cooke (uncredited), Graham Curry (uncredited), Liam Edwards (uncredited), Miriam Engelbert (uncredited), Tom Ford (uncredited), William Guiness (uncredited), Lex Lamprey (uncredited), Jamie Langlands (uncredited), Steve Langley (uncredited), Sarah Lockett (uncredited), Martyn Mayger (uncredited), Sigmund Oakeshott (uncredited), Richard Price (uncredited), Chris Wilson (uncredited) and Elizabeth Rose Wilson (uncredited)
Director: John Madden
Producers: Charles S. Cohen, Christian McLaughlin, Emile Sherman (p.g.a.), Iain Canning (p.g.a.), Katherine Bridle, Kris Thykier (p.g.a.), Nicky Earnshaw, Peter Heslop and Simon Gillis
Screenplay: Ben Macintyre (book) and Michelle Ashford (screenplay)
Costume Design: Andrea Flesch
Composer: Thomas Newman
Cinematography: Sebastian Blenkov (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio Descriptive Service
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 127 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures / COHEN Media Group / SEE-SAW FILMS
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ [2021] is a different kind of World War 2 spy thriller. There are no gunfights or chases, but the stakes couldn’t be higher, with millions of lives at stake, all of which hinge on a fanciful plot that’s so wild that if it were fiction, people would say it’s too unbelievable.
However, the actual real life “Operation Mincemeat” did indeed happen, where some officers specializing in deception came up with an incredible plot. They found a dead body, planted false documents stating that the Allies would invade Greece and disguising that they were actually going to invade Sicily, and ejected it from a submarine in the hopes that the Nazis would find the body with the documents on it. They hoped that the Nazis would be fooled into thinking the plans were genuine. It’s a crazy spy tale from World War 2 and, according to this lavish production, may have helped inspire the creation of James Bond.
The film has stories within the story, and celebrates the entire notion of artistic deception. And yet, it's remarkably more moving than anticipated, as the whole operation, despite being so bombastic, is tinged with a profound sadness. Not only for the man whose body they're literally using for their own gain, but for the ongoing war, highlighting the mad lengths people will go to in a desperate bid to overcome fascism. Perhaps the one downside is that, tonally, it could have been even more overstated – something rarely said about films. The story is so inconceivable, it almost feels like the filmmakers could have revelled more in its comedic moments, instead opting to take a more serious approach.
The film is narrated by 007’s creator, Ian Fleming, played here by the dashing, Bond type officer with the actor Johnny Flynn, who is an aide to Jason Isaacs’s head of MI5, who Ian Fleming refers to as M, and they even have a department for gadgets that they all call Q-Branch. Indeed, Ian Fleming did work for MI5 during the war, and he’s one of several ex-spies that became best-selling authors of spy fiction in the post-war period and including author John le Carré. In the film ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT,’ he mainly serves as comic relief, with an occasional wink at the audience hinting at further fictional spy adventures to come.
Wartime London is atmospherically evoked, with its air-raid precautions and streets peppered with a variety of uniforms, but with an urgent sense of purpose bubbling underneath. Within the secret corridors of Whitehall, and Colin Firth as Ewen Montagu’s team pore obsessively over their task. Morale is boosted by the capable and energetic office manager Hester Leggett [Penelope Wilton], while Johnny Flynn plays Lt Commander Ian Fleming while also supplying the voice-over that helps oil the wheels of the narrative.
As crazy as the premise is of the actual “Operation Mincemeat” is, it did happen and was made into another film in the 1950’s called ‘The Man Who Never Was.’ Colin Firth takes centre stage as the legendary Ewen Montagu, a Jewish officer who’s shown to have a keen interest in spy fiction, with him being introduced reading the novel “The Thirty-Nine Steps” to his son. Given his religious affiliation, his family had been sent to America. At the same time, Ewen Montagu stays behind, posing as a menial bureaucrat to, in part, fool his live-in brother, who we’re told is a communist who may be spying for the Russians. This puts Ewen Montagu under the suspicion of Admiral John Godfrey [Jason Isaacs] M figure, who thinks the plot is nonsense. However, it finds a powerful champion in Winston Churchill who played here by Simon Russell Beale.
Colin Firth plays his part to perfection as Ewen Montagu who is a refreshingly easy-going officer and not quite as stiff-necked as one might assume. The film’s heart revolves around his relationship with his three closest colleagues, Charles Cholmondeley [Matthew Macfadyen], Jean Leslie [Kelly Macdonald] and Hester Leggett [Penelope Wilton]. Jean Leslie is a young war widow that Ewen Montagu has a lot in common with and relishes the plot, making things tense with Charles Cholmondeley, who has a crush on her and is shown to have a massive chip on his shoulder, being a grounded RAF pilot due to the fact that he had very poor eyesight, whose heroic older brother is presumed dead.
For those audiences who may mostly know Matthew Macfadyen for the 2018 American satirical black comedy-drama television series created by Jesse Armstrong entitled “Succession,” whereas here in the United Kingdom the actor Matthew Macfadyen is a very well-known English actor. Anyway, Matthew Macfadyen in the film ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ plays a VERY different kind of character, being very loyal to Ewen Montagu, even after Jason Isaacs’s M tries to convince him that he’s a spy. I think we’re used to seeing him as duplicitous, but Matthew Macfayden has a lot of range. Kelly Macdonald is also intensely likeable as Jean Leslie, who has a thing for the married, easy-going and charismatic Ewen Montagu. Penelope Wilton comes close to stealing the show as Ewen Montagu’s devoted personal secretary, who serves as a pseudo mother figure to the certain group.
Even then, ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ never rises above the equivalent of a slow walk in a city park on a summer day. The pacing quickens once or twice after the faux-secret-burdened corpse floats ashore on Spanish soil and the Spaniards, technically neutral, but fascist sympathizers by any definition, throw myriad obstacles between the faux-secret letter and its intended destination in Berlin. Those moments, however, are few and far between. Director John Madden, and Screenplay by Michelle Ashford, and a sterling cast are generally content to deliver well-rounded, polished performances in a fairly generic, ultimately inoffensive drama that sheds light on a little-known chapter during the Second World War.
‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ is a classy production done on a lavish scale by director John Madden who directed the film ‘Shakespeare in Love.’ There’s pretty much but not a lot of action throughout the film, but it’s still a thrilling spy flick that shines a lot on perhaps the greatest large-scale deception of the war. It’s an excellent addition to a must-watch for history buffs and 007 fans, who will be tickled by all of the references. It’s a fun yarn that’s just crazy enough to be true.
POST SCRIPT: One thing that really made me seethe with anger, is all the moronic reviews I have read, especially the brain dead morons on the UK Amazon website for this Blu-ray, where they complained that the film was boring and did not have enough guns a blazing like other Second World War films of similar genre, well for heaven sake near the end of the film you get an almighty battle when landing on the beaches on a different island to deceive Adolph Hitler. But the film’s historic content is so much more subtle, as it is all about the genius British ingenuity of thwarting Adolph Hitler’s plans to win the Second World War and eventually seeing Adolph Hitler getting his eventual comeuppance.
OPERATION MINCEMEAT MUSIC TRACK LIST
BIG CAT SWING (Written by James Morgan and Juliette Pochin) [Performed by James Morgan and Richard Pardy]
ONE DAY SOON (Written by James Morgan and Juliette Pochin) [Performed by James Morgan]
I’M GOING TO LIT UP (When The Lights Go Up In London) (Written by Herbert Gregg) (Music by Herbert Gregg) [Performed by Carroll Gibbons and The Savoy Hotel Orphenas]
IMPORTANT ARRIVAL (Composed by Adrian Ludlow)
PECKIN’ (Written by Harry James and Ben Pollack) [Performed by Roger Wilson, Martin Litton, Richard Henry, Peter Rudeforth, Gary Crosby, Denys Baptise, Colin Skinner and Richard Pite]
FALLEN SOLDIER (Written by James Morgan and Juliette Pochin) [Performed by James Morgan]
MY HEART AND I DECIDE (Written by Walter Donaldson) [Performed by James Morgan and Juliette Pochin]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Warner Bros. Pictures presents us the film ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ with a wonderful 1080p image and of course enhanced with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio., but please note that on the back cover they have the wrong aspect ratio. As to the film itself, you will view a good solid looking film. The actual Blu-ray disc retains a lot of the look extremely well and totally natural colours, especially as it is set in World War II, so if you are only viewing a Blu-ray disc, then this will be a very pleasing and brilliant presentation experience and easily the best the film ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ can offer you. So well done Warner Bros. Pictures for your sterling work on the visual experience on this very nice Blu-ray disc.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Warner Bros. Pictures brings us the film ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ with a spectacular 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience. It is quite good in the front soundstage with limited surround use, but it gets the job done and still pleasant audio experience, especially giving you a really rich warm 5.1 audio mix making the most of the composed orchestral score by Thomas Newman. But when it comes to the awesome battle scenes near the end of the film, then that is when the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience kicks in and gives your surround speakers a good work out and all in all this is a very nice pleasant 5.1 mix audio experience.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras: Sadly, Warner Bros. Pictures decided in their wisdom that they did not feel like putting any kind of special feature, whereas I feel they could of at least supplied the Original Theatrical Trailer.
Finally, with the film ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ you have an Oscar-winning director John Madden who is one of the rare few makers in Hollywood who can finely balance human nature, suspenseful storytelling and raw action elements in his films, as he has displayed in his earlier ventures like ‘Shakespeare in Love’ [1998], ‘The Debt’ [2010] and ‘Miss Sloane’ [2016]. ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ is another addition worthy of the John Madden name in the way it finds the right mixture of intricate character studies juxtaposed with a supremely well-told World War 2 spy drama. This is a solidly entertaining film liberally sprinkled with excellent performances. ‘OPERATION MINCEMEAT’ is a well-acted film that tells the story of a very fascinating part of the Second World War. However, it adds so much for the audience’s entertainment that can sometime loses momentum with the story it’s mainly trying to tell. It does still succeed in being emotional in parts of the film. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
