Last night we had another Cineworld Unlimited screening and this time it was for Operation Mincemeat the WWII movie based on a true story, I have to say that I love the 1956 movie The Man Who Never Was, so I was looking forward to this new retelling of the fascinating story.
Colin Firth stars in the new movie Operation Mincemeat, It’s 1943, and the Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe and plan an all-out assault on Sicily, but they face an impossible challenge – how to protect a massive invasion force from a potential massacre. 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 alter the course of the war – defying logic, risking countless thousands of lives, and testing the nerves of its creators to breaking point.
Operation Mincemeat, the compelling new film by the acclaimed director John Madden (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), tells a factual story that is far stranger than fiction. This real-life event proved a vital turning point in the Second World War. It is fair to say that it fundamentally altered the future of Europe.
With the allies preparing to invade mainland Europe in 1943, they were desperate to avoid the carnage and slaughter of troops by the German forces that would be in mass in southern Italy. So a plan so bizarre was hatched to attempt to dupe the Nazis into thinking that the troops would land in Greece instead of Sicily.
The plan of deception that would be a secret for many years and one that defies belief would be one that would hopefully save many lives and take the German troops by surprise.
Operation Mincemeat is written by Michelle Ashford and features Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton and Johnny Flynn.
Ben Macintyre, the bestselling author on whose book of the same name the film is based, explains why this scarcely credible episode was such a pivotal moment in the global conflict. “Operation Mincemeat was probably the most successful military deception operation ever carried out. What the deceivers had to do was to try to persuade the Germans that black was white and white was black. And they did this in the most extraordinary way. It now sounds like it comes straight out of fiction, which is exactly where it came from.“
Ashford emphasises how this episode was a game-changer in the progress of the war. “It’s absolutely true that Operation Mincemeat changed the course of the war. If the Allies had not been able to access Europe, they would have been sunk. At that time, Europe was very heavily defended by the Germans. If the British had not been successful with Operation Mincemeat, there would have been a ghastly bloodbath. Without that brilliant plot, there is no way they would have won the war.“
As I mentioned earlier I loved the 1956 movie that was based on the 1953 book, I remember seeing The Man Who Never Was on a wet Sunday afternoon on BBC Two many years ago and the story fascinated me, with modern cinema advances in technology and filmmaking it was great to hear that the story would be getting a new version.
The lack of action in a war film may put people off in this modern day of CGI, non-stop action and explosions going off here there and everywhere, but this WWII drama is a movie that kept my interest throughout the 2h 8m running time. John Madden has brought us a great piece of cinema with a great cast to give us those British military types and those that worked with them to get the bizarre idea of the ground during the war.
It’s not only the cast that is a joy to watch, it’s also the cinematography that brings the darker moments to life on the screen with the streets at night dimly lit by people’s hand lamps as they walk home without bringing too much attention to themselves from possible air raids.
One thing that really stood out was the accompanied voiceover from Johnny Flynn as Ian Fleming which gave the film an even more dramatic feel. Talking of Fleming, I loved the moments when he mentions “M” and we get to visit the “Q branch”, look out for a watch that is also a spy gadget, brilliant.
The soundtrack from Thomas Newman is perfectly suited for the film, with plenty of moments where the music brings the atmosphere to the scenes in the film that take you into the film and the character’s situations, wonderful to listen to.
Operation Mincemeat is certainly a film that is not going to be for everyone, but if you want a change from Sci-Fi, horror etc then this is certainly one to check out, it’s a film that shows what lengths were taken during WWII to keep our freedom.
OPERATION MINCEMEAT arrives for Digital Download on 27th June and on Blu-ray and DVD on 4th July from Warner Bros. Pictures
Deception the Greatest Weapon of All
Movie title: Operation Mincemeat (2021)
Movie description: During WWII, two intelligence officers use a corpse and false papers to outwit German troops.
Date published: April 6, 2022
Country: UK
Duration: 2h 8m
Director(s): John Madden
Actor(s): Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald
Genre: Drama, War
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
