Garbo: The Spy

Original title: Garbo: El espía

20092009
Not RatedNot Rated
1h 28min

Documentary Biography History

A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.

7.2/10

608

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Awards
- 4 wins & 3 nominations

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Trailer 1:35

Garbo: The Spy

A compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.

world war two

Trivia
As the credits roll (after showing the names of those who appeared on film), additional information are revealed. Winston Churchill's quote of "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies" "To Annia" As he worked for the MI5, Pujol's telephone was tapped and his private correspondence underwent censorship. He was never left alone. He could only use invisible ink under the supervision of a member of the Secret service. He never met any other agent, entered the MI5 premises, or knew his position in the Organization. He never tried to find out more, or ever complained. After the War, MI5 wanted Pujol to spy on Russia. For unknown reasons, he did not accept. He spent all his fortune on land in Venezuela. In 1948, his property was assaulted and destroyed. He sold it at a quarter of the value. Juan Pujol managed to fight two wars serving both sides. Never fired a single shot. His vivid imagination produced over 50 volumes of writings. Thus he spared thousands of lives. On both sides.

Top review

2/10

Odd style makes an interesting story not believable.

I'm on a roll this week watching bad docs with subjects that should have made them much more interesting. I'm still trying to figure this one out. Obviously the interviewees think this is an amazing story, but the viewer is left wondering why—the doc takes this amazing story and tries to tell it using old movie clips whose only connection is that they were about WWII. I didn't like the fact that we are not introduced to these interviewees until midway through the film, that there are long pauses of silence (where it seems narration should have been placed but wasn't) and the music was disconcerting (to be diplomatic... to be rude, it was awful). I could see how this story would make a great Hollywood movie, but the way it was presented here, I had a hard time believing any of it was true.

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