Operation Mincemeat, designed to make the Nazis think the Allied troops would be landing in Greece instead of Sicility, was a real spy operation in World War II.
Set in 1943, the movie stars Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn, and Jason Isaacs.The movie is based on Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre.
Released this month and distributed by Netflix, Warner Bros. Pictures, and FilmNation Entertainment, the movie is compelling, believable, and even suspenseful even though we know how the Allied landing turned out.
An intelligent story and well acted, this is a must see. You'll find it on Netflix and IMDB I believe.
Takeaway Truth
I'd love to find more movies like this. So much of the content with streaming services is lacking in so many ways.
John Madden’s "remake" of Operation Mincemeat and Ben Macintyre’s novel make for great viewing and reading. The Madden film is based on Macintyre’s novel, and they are both a fake news aficionado’s paradise when it comes to trying to differentiate layer after layer of fact and fiction. Nevertheless, as with many war or espionage thrillers like the Ipcress File it's a shame the film industry is producing yet more remakes. If success is to breed success the film industry must not polish old gems but mine for new ones. In these genres, examples of such new gems include Mick Herron’s Slow Horses from the Slough House stable and Beyond Enkription, the first fact based spy thriller in The Burlington Files series by Bill Fairclough. They are both great reads. The celluloid adaptation of Slow Horses looks destined to become an anti-Bond classic. As for The Burlington Files let’s hope the film industry hears of it. Not being a remake this enigmatic and elusive thriller may have eluded you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, MI6, for your comment and your book recommendations. I agree that the film industry has become more and more stagnant. Rather than produce something new and original, they cling to the franchise, remake, and reboot business model of movie production. I think that's one reason the video streaming services have gained such popularity. They're more open to originality and adaptations from well-written books. I look forward to reading Mick Herron's Slow Horses. By the way, if you have seen Counterpart, an Amazon Prime original, I'd be interested in what you think about it? Although SF with a premise straight out of the Fringe TV series, I think the characterizatons reflect the mentality, attitudes, and personalities of those involved in the spy trade.
DeleteOnce you start reading Mick's Slough House series you may want to read the lot! None of us has seen Counterpart. We are all ex-espionage industry and prefer non-fiction to fiction or, if fictional, the more anti-Bond the better! That's why we like The Slough House and in particular The Burlington Files series. Being real people, some of us have actually met and even worked with a few of the characters in Beyond Enkription as depicted on its website (see the news dated September 26, 2021).
DeleteI'll check that out. Btw, Counterpart is definitely anti-Bond, but also SF so probably not your cup of tea. Lovely to meet you. Again, thanks for the book recommendations. Blocking out time to start the first one when I get a manuscript turned in next week.
DeleteJoan - Thanks. As you guessed, Science Fiction is not our cup of tea. Re our recommendations, The Burlington Files is even more fascinating once you start digging into who Edward Burlington really was and once you read the relatively unknown Beyond Enkription, it all fits together like an enormous jigsaw puzzle. From an espionage connoisseur's perspective, once you start researching the Burlington family, it's like having a new metal detector for Xmas and discovering a treasure trove in the back garden before tucking in to the turkey! As for Mick Herron, the Slough House series just goes to show why he is already famous as does Operation Mincemeat for Ben Macintyre. Best wishes ...
DeleteAgh! You're making me so impatient to start reading these. Only will power is keeping me in my chair and editing this manuscript. Btw, I checked out your MI6 Anecdotes. I've been looking for my Philby book ever since. I read it eons ago. I think it's in a box somewhere. (We moved last July, and I don't have all of my books in shelves. I had a ton of bookshelves in my previous home, but we downsized which I deeply regret now because I don't have enough space for all of my books.)
ReplyDeleteWe still have thousands of books but that's a long story. Happy reading ...
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