RED JOAN – Review

Judi Dench plays a widowed retired librarian living a quiet suburban life who is suddenly arrested for spying in the Cold War, in the fact-inspired RED JOAN. Director Trevor Nunn based his film on a shocking real spy case, when an innocent-seeming older woman was arrested by the British Secret Service for passing classified information about the atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union in the early days of the Cold War. Told in part as the harmless-looking older woman is interrogated and in flashback as a young physics student recruited for the war effort, Joan Stanley relives the events of her life that led to the accusation.

The screenplay by Lindsay Shapiro is more inspired by than based on the sensational story of real spy Melita Norwood, an unassuming 87-year-old suburban widow arrested for espionage in 1999. In RED JOAN, the fictional character is named Joan Stanley. The film toggles back and forth between the octogenarian Joan, played by Judi Dench, and her younger self, played by Sophie Cookson. The spy tale is well-acted and well-shot, filled with fine period details and locations. The problem, for at least some audiences, is that the film shifts tone as it shifts between its present and past. In its present, it is a subtle character study unfolding as the older Joan is interrogated, while in the past, it is steamy spy thriller, which makes is feel a bit like two different films. In both time periods, the film presents a complicated picture of a women grappling with complex emotions, divided loyalties and confused ideas about patriotism, in a world that seems on the verge of nuclear war.

The flashback story takes us to Cambridge University before World War II, where young student Joan (Cookson) meets Leo (Tom Hughes, who played Prince Albert on BBC’s “Victoria”), a handsome young Russian/German Jewish refugee. Joan is a quiet, gifted physics student who is drawn to Leo and his adventurous, high-spirited cousin Sonya (Tereza Sbrova), because they are just so much fun. Joan accompanies the two charismatic newcomers to the Commie film screenings and events they organize on campus, less because of any interest in communism than her fondness for them. Joan quickly becomes fast friends with Sonya, and eventually falls into a passionate affair with the seductive but elusive Leo.

As the older Joan points out in the film, in those pre-World War II days, communism or the Soviet Union were not seen as threatening, and there was even a little fad of interest in the 1930s. As World War II breaks out, the Soviet Union becomes a British ally. Although Joan’s interest in her friends’ communist ideas has long faded, her personal history ties to the Russians and their circle remain and complicate her life.

If RED JOAN had stuck to the story in the past, it could have developed into a steamy, exciting spy thriller. But Trevor Nunn, a director steeped in theater, has other plans for this film beyond popcorn-munching entertainment. The film returns to the present periodically, which gives us more time with the always-wonderful Judi Dench and also allows her character to describe her rather complicated, even confused, reasons for doing what she did. A key point is her concern about preventing another war, as she has the misguided if well-meaning idea that peace has a better chance if both sides have the bomb.

It is a idea discussed by several characters in the flashback sequences but the anti-war theme is not the only one that runs through the film. A strong feminist aspect also emerges, as Joan’s brilliance in physics is consistently ignored by the men working on the war effort, who think she is better suited to typing up their research. Only Max (Stephen Campbell Moore), the head of the British atom bomb project, recognizes Joan’s remarkable gift for physics and recruits her as his assistant. But she still does the typing and filing.

As the atomic bomb project advances, things get complicated for Joan, both romantically and ethically. At first, the team works along side the Americans in the race to beat the Germans to the atomic bomb, but then the Americans stop sharing research. The British project continues anyway but in a more complicated political atmosphere. a situation that becomes even more complex after the war. The shifting political alliances worry Joan, who sees the Russians go from allies to adversaries, and the Americans go from collaborative to secretive about atomic research.

Even though her work takes her from England to Canada, she is still periodically contacted by Sonya, Leo and their commie friends, with Leo pressing her hard to share information despite her repeated refusals. Meanwhile, in the story’s present, the older Joan grapples with the pressure of the interrogation, and secrets she kept from her grown son, some due to the Official Secrets Act and some not. The son reels as information about his mother’s past surfaces.

Perhaps Nunn tried to do a bit too much with this film, layering this woman’s secret past with themes of feminist and anti-war sentiment. When the film focuses on the characters in the past, it builds a driving thriller tension, as events push Joan to the emotional edge. In the present, the story is more narrow and relational, focusing on the character’s inner turmoil and her relationship with her shocked son. The shift in style is sometimes jarring, making RED JOAN feel like two different films rather a single story, despite the superb acting, well-crafted production values and good intentions.

RED JOAN opens Friday, May 10, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars