This article was first published on the official account Xihua.com (ID: lessubs)
This film is adapted from the novel "Red Joan" of the same name published in 2014. It tells the wonderful life of the longest-lived female spy in the UK, Joan Elizabeth Stanley, whose prototype is Melita Norwood.
Melita was a valuable spy who was planted in the UK by the KGB (Soviet "National Security Council") during World War II.
The Soviet Union was able to become the second country in the world to possess an atomic bomb, and Melita played an indispensable role.
The film adaptation is different from the real historical figures, but the important choices are well restored in the film.
When Joan was studying in Cambridge, he met two very important friends, female friend Sonia and her cousin Leo.
Both Sonia and Leo are staunch Communists.
In the context of the time, many young people believed that Leninism at that time was the hope for the future, so many young people became Communists, and Joan was no exception.
After graduating from Cambridge, Joan was recommended to enter Cambridge's "Alloy Tube" project, a secret project to study the atomic bomb, and became the assistant to President Max.
Although most of the time Joan's work is only to help print documents and other chores, he can access a large number of core confidential documents.
It was at the end of the Second World War.
As the former allies, the United Kingdom and the United States gradually became separated from the Soviet Union, and there has been little resource sharing. At that time, only the United States successfully developed an atomic bomb. The United Kingdom once asked the United States to share resources, but was rejected.
Therefore, the UK can only develop it by itself and implement data confidentiality.
The Soviet Union tried every means to place spies at the core of the atomic bomb inventions in the United States and Britain to obtain resources for itself.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, causing a large number of civilian and military casualties.
As Japan unconditionally surrendered, Joan noticed that the relationship between Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union was gradually deteriorating.
She didn't want the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to happen to the Soviet Union again.
She believes that only after the Soviet Union possesses nuclear weapons can checks and balances be formed against the United States, and that the United States will not randomly drop atomic bombs on the Soviet Union.
So Joan became a Soviet spy in Britain.
For the Soviet Union to obtain a large number of core secrets about atomic bomb manufacturing, no one had ever doubted her-an inconspicuous assistant to the president.
Subsequently, the Soviet Union successfully detonated an atomic bomb.
This gave the British Intelligence Agency sufficient reason to believe that someone involved in the "Alloy Tube" project must have informed the Soviet Union, and the number one suspect was Max, the president of the "Alloy Tube" project.
Joan believes that an innocent scientist should not be imprisoned because of what he has done, not to mention that this person is still his sweetheart.
Just when Joan was about to surrender, Max stopped her.
Max doesn't want his beloved girl to stay in prison for the rest of his life, so even if he is free, what is the point?
So Joan came up with his own assassin—threatening William, who had participated in the plan at the time but was at the top of the British government, took Max out of prison and sent the two of them to Australia.
Under William's protection, Joan and Max lived steadily for decades.
Until after William's death, confidential files were discovered and Joan's identity was exposed.
Faced with the crowds of reporters, Joan admitted what he had done in the small garden at his door:
"I was accused of leaking information to the Russians in the 1940s and providing them with information on accelerating the production of atomic bombs. I was accused of defrauding colleagues and family at work, but I did not deny it. But I was also accused of treason. I am not a spy. I am not against my motherland. I want Russia to be on an equal footing with the West. I am not a traitor. I hope everyone can have the same beliefs as me, because only then can we avoid the horrors of another world war. I think if you go back and look at history, you will find that I am right."
In view of Joan's advanced age, the British judiciary announced that he would be exempt from prosecution. She is called "Grandma Red Spy".
June 2, 2005, at the age of 93, Joan passed away.
View more about Red Joan reviews
