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Blunt:
The Fourth Man |
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"If I have to choose between betraying my country or betraying a friend, I hope I would have the guts to betray my country." [Novelist E.M. Forster, quoted by Anthony Blunt.] In the 1986 film "Blunt" we meet academician Goronwy Rees as he wrestles with this choice. On one side he is pressured by highly-placed Anthony Blunt, a spy for the Soviet Union and Keeper of the Queen's Pictures (and played by Ian Richardson at his sinister best); on the other by his highly-principled wife, (very well played by Rosie Kerslake). Michael Williams, as Rees, struggles with the choice, handicapped by his own denial of the seriousness of the situation, and by his naivete. Mr. Williams' acting captures these subtleties well. He gives us an intelligent man capable of near-stupidity; a brilliant man who cannot or will not recognize deceit in others and who cannot or will not see the danger to himself and his family. Rees' closest friend is Guy Burgess (Anthony Hopkins). In fact, it was Burgess whose invitation brought Rees into the Communist Party in 1936, when both men were students at Cambridge [virtually everything in this film is factual]. Many people, attracted by what they perceived to be the admirable ideals of the Communist Party, joined in those days. But in 1939 Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler and many then left the Party, their illusions in tatters. Rees left; Burgess did not. The two remained friends. Rees even asked Burgess to serve as a godfather to one of his chldren. How much did Rees know about Burgess' activities as a spy for Russia? We don't know. Burgess visits Rees at Rees' home and hints at trouble to come (for Burgess). He reminds Rees that they are friends. Certain that Burgess is over-reacting to a perception that British Intelligence is on his trail, Rees agrees to say nothing. Yet he is troubled, and his wife is even more so. She not charmed by Burgess and although she knows nothing about his spying, she senses that he is untrustworthy. Rees mistakes her concern for jealousy (Burgess and Blunt were homosexual) and remains in denial. Michael Williams captures this indecisive man's dilemma and his inability to see the enormous damage his friend (and Burgess' cohorts -- Kim Philby, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt) has done. His voice, his facial expressions, his body language all reveal his struggle. He speaks firmly, yet we see his doubt. As British Intelligence draws ever closer to exposing the spy ring Burgess panics and flees, with Mclean, to Moscow. Aware of the danger this flight poses for him, Anthony Blunt approaches Rees and pressures him to promise he'll say nothing, uttering threats about exposing Rees. A naive Rees believes his own innocence will protect him. His wife, however, senses danger. She is horrified as Rees begins to tell her the truth, cying out about the four traitors, "But you knew them -- all of them!" Cornered, Rees can only reply, "I warned you when we first met I had no sense of self -- I was Mr. Nobody." In 2000 Rees' elder daughter, Jenny, published a biography about her father entitled Looking for Mr. Nobody: The Secret Life of Goronwy Rees. This 1986 film was, obviously, written and filmed long before the biography appeared, but the screen writer (Robin Chapman) and Michael Williams have portrayed the man Jenny Rees describes. Although we cannot admire this weak man, we can sympathize with him and care about him. [Kim Philby soon followed Burgess and Maclean to Moscow. Although British Intelligence suspected the existence of a "fourth man" who warned the first three and permitted them to elude capture, Blunt's identity was not discovered until 1964, at which time a secret deal was cut with him by Her Majesty's government. In 1979 the extent of Blunt's involvement was finally made public. Blunt resigned his post and gave up his knighthood. Goronwy Rees was never formally charged with any crime, but he never recovered from the events of 1951 and neither did his career. He died in 1979].
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