A well-paced and reasonably intelligent film, "Defence of the Realm" would seem to be a rather forgotten picture 35 years later, but it does deserve to be better known. Gabriel Byrne is solid as Nick Mullen, an investigative reporter who latches onto a story. It appears that a high-ranking British MP (Ian Bannen) shares a lover with a KGB agent, and that this may have led to leaks between governments. It causes the end of the MPs' career, but Byrne soon realizes that there are *layers* to this story, that not everything is immediately clear.
Touching upon such topics as freedom of information and the desire for transparency in government, "Defence of the Realm" entertains quite well for 96 minutes. Director David Drury builds considerable suspense, and gets excellent performances out of his cast. Best of all, this mystery (scripted by Martin Stellman) draws you in by having you learn things along with Byrne, and not be two steps ahead of him the entire time. The end result is a scenario with far-reaching consequences, one in which you know the lead character will have the right to feel paranoid. This, despite the fact that he's an apolitical type with no skeletons in his own closet.
Byrne is extremely well supported by the lovely Greta Scacchi, as the MPs' secretary, Denholm Elliott, as Nicks' colleague and friend, and Fulton Mackay, Bill Paterson, David Calder, Frederick Treves, Robbie Coltrane, Annabel Leventon, and Oliver Ford Davies. Look for Al Matthews, Sergeant Apone in "Aliens" a year later, in a bit near the end.
This is one of those cases where the story in the film *does* add up, for the most part, as audience and lead character alike put all the pieces together. "Defence of the Realm" compares well to American paranoia-laced pictures of the 70s such as "The Parallax View".
Seven out of 10.
Touching upon such topics as freedom of information and the desire for transparency in government, "Defence of the Realm" entertains quite well for 96 minutes. Director David Drury builds considerable suspense, and gets excellent performances out of his cast. Best of all, this mystery (scripted by Martin Stellman) draws you in by having you learn things along with Byrne, and not be two steps ahead of him the entire time. The end result is a scenario with far-reaching consequences, one in which you know the lead character will have the right to feel paranoid. This, despite the fact that he's an apolitical type with no skeletons in his own closet.
Byrne is extremely well supported by the lovely Greta Scacchi, as the MPs' secretary, Denholm Elliott, as Nicks' colleague and friend, and Fulton Mackay, Bill Paterson, David Calder, Frederick Treves, Robbie Coltrane, Annabel Leventon, and Oliver Ford Davies. Look for Al Matthews, Sergeant Apone in "Aliens" a year later, in a bit near the end.
This is one of those cases where the story in the film *does* add up, for the most part, as audience and lead character alike put all the pieces together. "Defence of the Realm" compares well to American paranoia-laced pictures of the 70s such as "The Parallax View".
Seven out of 10.