Written by Here are some great movies worth streaming that you won't see at the Oscars this year. 26 of 43 people found this review helpful. The Film opens when she is arrested at her home then taken for interrogation. English-born Joan Stanley (Dame Judi Dench), a Soviet and Communist Party sympathizer, becomes employed as a British government civil servant, and gets recruited by the K.G.B. BN-FRMA linked up with a to-secret project to develop a nuclear weapon called Tube Alloys. In 1937, Joan Stanley, a sheltered 18-year-old, goes up to Cambridge to study Physics. I talked to her about the spying, but she told me very little of what she had done, although she did say my father didn't approve.". She has lived in Paris and London since her teenage years. She connects with her former Communist lover Leo who encourages her to hand over secrets to the Russians. The next four decades saw her hand over secrets and files under the name of Agent Hola. Agent Hola's time was up. Upon their success, she fights to make her talents known, challenging gender norms. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. During that time she had handed over the country's secrets - willingly - to Russia, among them crucial information about the atomic bomb and its development. It became clear later, when Pavel Sudoplatov of the Russian Ministry of State Security admitted it was 'sources' from Great Britain that helped with such problems, that it was Norwood who gave them the final puzzle piece. After all, Norwood had actually been investigated no less than seven times, she'd even been identified as a security risk in 1965. Red Joan spends most of its running time in the past, tracking Joan’s fearful life during WWII and seeing the catastrophic destruction of America’s atomic weapons on Japan. RED JOAN (M) Director: Trevor Nunn. Unapologetically feminine in the vein of Lone Scherfig’s overlooked gem “Their Finest,” “Red Joan” resolves into a genuine study of an intelligent and ideologically budding young woman. She was Dominika's classmate and rival. Verdict: Espionage drama suffers from a … Title: At one point, Sonya and Joan are shown having a conversation in a café during the time of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. The media were all gathered to hear what she had to say after revelations in the newspaper that day - Norwood had been a Soviet spy for nearly 40 years. Red Joan English-born Joan Stanley (Dame Judi Dench), a Soviet and Communist Party sympathizer, becomes employed as a British government civil servant, and gets recruited by the K.G.B. Story of Christine Keeler, who found herself at the heart of a political sex scandal that rocked British government in the 1960s. In 1967, she recruited a British civil servant 'Hunt' who passed on secrets about arms sales for nearly 15 years. One said to the Sunday Mercury: "We all knew where her politics lay. They become lovers, and Joan experiences communist ideals and camaraderie, although remaining aloof. It was a show of compassion Russian wouldn't have shown if the tables were turned. This is the case with Red Joan … "I do not consider myself a spy," she told reporters. Sonia Stevens arrives in 394, and suddenly, we have anew rival for Bea Smith, eventually helping to get Bea transferred to Barnhurst. "In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country. Unknownian, Dame Judi Dench stars as Joan Stanley who is exposed as a KGB Russian Spy long after retirement. Joan also comes up with the idea of enriching uranium in the film, which is part of the process of making atomic energy. Judy Dench is actually only in a handful of the scenes but really delivers at key moments in the Movie and so do her fellow Cast Mates. In 1949 they detonated their first atomic bomb four years earlier than expected. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. The story of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre where British forces attacked a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Manchester. And yet, largely on the strength of casting, Red Joan is an engaging drama that touches on an eternal theme: a doubtful past pursuing a protagonist into the present. Cinemas might not be open just yet, but you can find most of this year’s Oscar contenders streaming online. "When she became politically active in the 1930s, Russia was seen by many people as the only nation capable of defeating the Nazis. Norwood was the most important British female agent in the whole of the KGB's history as well as the longest-serving of all the Soviet spies in Britain. She befriends Joan and later gives Joan her assignments and receives Joan’s stolen documents. In “Red Joan,” a slightly dull drama “inspired by a true story,” Judi Dench plays an Englishwoman in her 80s, whom we see in opening scenes trimming a hedge in … She removed items from her boss' safe, photographing details and sending them on to the Soviets, as is seen in the film. She was a traitor to her country and had got away with it for decades. She has a long-standing enmity with the Black Dragon leader, Kano, who had murdered a former partner of hers, and stands for everything Sonya despises. Born in 1912 she was brought up with Communists, Socialists and Leninists. Her lofty motivations are a far cry from Norwood's deliberate choices. Then in 1999 an extensive archive of KGB material was uncovered by a defector. "It's just what you did" she says. From "Dexter" to The Suicide Squad, here are our picks for the reboots and remakes we're most excited for in 2021 and beyond. Sonya identifies herself as an agent of the KGB, an organization that didn’t exist at the time. We see Joan struggle with the Communist Party she is dropped into thanks to the company she keeps. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Colette is pushed by her husband to write novels under his name. The film portrays Norwood as a doddering old woman that when unmasked struggles to understand what she did wrong and what is happening to her. She'd leave them somewhere to be picked up or handed them over at a meet-up. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes. Red Joan has a valid point to make: some spies were not pro-communist so much as pro-balance, pro-Mutually Assured Destruction, pro-peace. While it appears that she did what she was accused of doing my take-away is that Melita was a naive young woman who … Sonia Stevens known as"The Ice Queen", was the last rival of Bea Smith. Tereza Srbova, Actress: Red Joan. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Then in 1932, Norwood, now 20, began work in the clerical department of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association (BN-FMRA). Joan is smitten by Sonya’s cousin, the dashing radical Leo (Tom Hughes), a Jew driven out of Russia and Germany. Which is something the real Norwood is unlikely to have done. As Red Joan opens, elderly widow Joan Stanley (Judi Dench) is enjoying a quiet suburban retirement, puttering about in her garden and drinking tea, when she is abruptly arrested by two Special Branch officers and taken in for questioning on possible charges of treason. Author David Burke, who wrote a book about Melita's extraordinary life, was told by Norwood herself that it was she that approached them not the other way around. Tereza Srbova was born in Prague, Czech Republic. I made the approach.". Was this review helpful to you? Based loosely on a True Story I felt the Storyline was very believable and Builds and Finishes Strong. Red Joan is released in cinemas on April 19, 2019. in the mid 1930s. All of this is shown in Red Joan, but what's missing is the other work Norwood did - she was also a recruiter. Norwood died on June 2, 2005 never facing trial for her crimes. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Leo visits Russia; on his return, he co… English-born Joan Stanley (Dame Judi Dench), a Soviet and Communist Party sympathizer, becomes employed as a British government civil servant, and gets recruited by the K.G.B. She’s also got a dashing cousin, Leo (Tom Hughes), and a penchant for recruiting people for her Communist cell. Sonya represents a very emancipated and headstrong woman, but for all her stubbornness and pride, she deeply cares about the lives of her friends and comrades. The true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Top Notch Actors. Leo is researching an economics PhD, looking for proof that communism works. All of this is shown in Red Joan, but what's missing is the other work Norwood did - she was also a recruiter. Instead, Red Joan splits the difference, choosing to de-politicize Joan’s reasons for giving the Soviets secret information and ascribing the dirty politics of it all to Sonya and Leo, while failing to truly explore Joan’s realization that science is not, and has never been, devoid of politics. Her work continued after the war and there's no question what she handed over was useful to the Soviets. The dramatic story of the cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas A. Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world. A writer, journalism and follower of Lenin - who formed the Communist Party in Great Britain - they were acquainted. She's a very good person, very strong and totally unmaterialistic," she told The Daily Mail at the time. Slipping back to 1938, the story finds Joan (now played by Sophie Cookson) studying physics at Cambridge and falling under the spell of the glamorous Sonya (Tereza Srbova). "She handed over a very large number of documents of a scientific and technical nature, and these found practical application.". Use the HTML below. "Red Joan" is a typical Britsh quiet spy movie without the noise and fast pace of the Bond movies. Standing in her suburban front garden in 87-year-old pensioner Melita Norwood read from a crisp sheet of paper, intently looking down the lens of a camera as she confessed to being a top secret spy and betraying her country. Something went wrong, please try again later. I certainly didn't.". She successfully transfers nuclear bomb secrets to Soviet Russia, which enables them to keep up with the west in the development of atomic weapons, and remains undetected as a spy for over a half … A look at the final days in the life of renowned playwright William Shakespeare. Despite her odd hobby no one really thought much of it but if they had perhaps her past wouldn't have come as so much of a shock as reporters clambered for a shot of her on her drive. "But I didn’t immediately think of pinching it. An archaeologist embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938. Sitting in front of Max, her boss, she simply suggests using a centrifuge as causally as you would suggest having a cup of tea before turning back to her notes. William Mitchell is a fellow member of the group. When she was finally unmasked, confessing in her garden, the public called for her to be prosecuted but Home Secretary Jack Straw ruled that dragging such an old woman into court would be inappropriate. Judi Dench Determined to Continue Acting Despite Eyesight Loss: ‘I Learn Through Repetition’, Transmission Films sings the praises of ‘I Am Woman’ and ‘Dundee’ redux, UK independent films score highest box office market share for five years. During the war, Joan went to university and became an esteemed scientist herself, eventually joining the top secret team that was charged with developing Britain’s own bomb with the help of the Canadians. Red Joan is the fictionalized story of Melita Stedman Norwood who at the age of 87 was accused of being a Soviet spy during the Cold War. This was a woman who was seen pottering around tending to her vegetables and flowers. The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the K.G.B. She was an emotional Communist and quite naive. Her first audition won her the role of Kirilenko in David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel. Her KGB file gave her a glowing review calling her "committed, reliable and disciplined agent, striving to be of the utmost assistance. Norwood's father died when was six from tuberculosis and the family moved to Southampton. It seemed as if she'd got away with it all - and there was a lot to get away with. It was a mere two years later that Norwood was spying for the Soviet NKVD - she'd been recruited by Rothstein himself. Along with her boyfriend Konstantin Petrovsky, Sonya sabotaged Dominika's career. Judi Dench says later as a young woman she just went along with it. View production, box office, & company info. This FAQ is empty. Theodore Rothstein was one of the people in their group. Cinematically filling in this murky past, Red Joan the movie is a soap opera starring Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service) as the fictional Joan, a naïve physics student at Cambridge, whose Natasha Fatale-like best friend Sonya (Tereza Srbova), introduces her to her charismatic, rabble-rousing brother Leo , with whom she falls so deeply in lust, he calls her “comrade” when they make love. The Left-wing political scene, influencing young Norwood who then joined the CPGB this time, what should have a... 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