Red Joan (2018)

The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the K.G.B.'s longest-serving British spy.

Director:

Trevor Nunn

Writers:

Lindsay Shapero (screenplay), Jennie Rooney (novel)

Stars:

Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Stephen Campbell Moore

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judi Dench	...	Joan
Nina Sosanya	...	Ms Hart
Laurence Spellman	...	Mr. Adams
Nicola Sloane	...	Joan's Neighbour
Sophie Cookson	...	Young Joan
Tereza Srbova	...	Sonya
Freddie Gaminara	...	William
Raj Swamy	...	Kharak
Tom Hughes	...	Leo
Adrian Wheeler	...	Heckler
Ben Miles	...	Nick
Lulu Meissner	...	Waitress
Phill Langhorne	...	Uniformed Policeman
Mike Sykes	...	Security Guard
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	Max

Storyline

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. in the mid 1930s. 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 century.

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Plot Keywords:

russophobia | propaganda | year 1945 | based on real person | prison | 

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Taglines:

To Change the World, She Betrayed Her Country

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Sophie Cookson and Ben Miles have starring roles and a very different relationship in The Trial of Christine Keeler. Sophie Cookson plays the part of Christine Keeler, and Ben Miles plays John Profumo.

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Goofs

At around 06:00, the young Joan Stanley is seen wearing dark welding goggles whilst soldering in her Earth Sciences class at Cambridge University. Soldering, unlike welding, produces no damaging light emissions.

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Quotes

Joan Stanley: Use your heart instead of your head.

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Connections

Features Battleship Potemkin (1925)

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Soundtracks

Starlight Serenade
Written and Performed by Alan Moorhouse
Courtesy of KPM Music
Published by EMI Production Music

User Reviews

Slumbering premise keeps promissing story average

This could have easily be a big + spy story. One of those stories that survive the times because the writers dig behind the veils of historic facts, and make essential values of human existance see the light of day. That value here is that one human can break through the simplicfied truths of time-bound consciousness, the illusions of wrong and right, dares to think his own moral mind and make a decision that serves humanity on a deeper level of evolution. It shows as a premise that is strongly tied to the story but not convincingly develloped.

What is left is a skilled and entertaining movie, not a timeless one.

Details

Official Sites:

Embankment Films

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 2019 (UK)

Also Known As:

Red Joan

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$38,949, 21 April 2019

Gross USA:

$1,579,730

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,647,493

Company Credits

Production Co:

Trademark Films, Cambridge Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1