Page Eight

Page Eight is a 2011 film set in MI5 and written and directed for the BBC by the British writer David Hare, his first film as director since the 1989 film Strapless.^[1] The cast includes Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Tom Hughes, Ralph Fiennes and Judy Davis.

The film had its world premiere on 18 June 2011 at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It was broadcast on BBC Two and BBC HD on 28 August 2011 in the United Kingdom, and will be broadcast on PBS in the United States on November 6, 2011.^[2]

[edit] Plot

Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is a long-serving MI5 officer whose closest friend is also his boss, the Director General of MI5, Benedict Baron (Michael Gambon). Baron dies of a heart attack at his country home where he lives with his wife (Johnny's ex-wife) and step daughter (Johnny's daughter). Baron's death comes shortly after distributing a highly explosive report to two MI5 officers (Worricker and Jill Tankard—Judy Davis) and then sharing it with the Home Secretary. At the meeting with the Home Secretary (Saskia Reeves), Worricker verbally highlights a note at the foot of page eight alleging that the Prime Minister is aware that the US administration has been torturing prisoners in secret overseas prisons.

Worricker feels compelled to carry out the unspoken but obvious wishes of Baron to make the content of the report public. Tankard does not support his actions because she is secretly working for the Prime Minister's office. The Prime Minister (Ralph Fiennes) orders the report to be buried and announces plans to replace MI5 with a US style Homeland Security organisation. The Home Secretary's silence is bought by promoting her to Deputy Prime Minister.

At the same time, Johnny has had a chance encounter with his political activist neighbour Nancy Pierpan (Rachel Weisz), which seems a bit too coincidental to be true. His artist daughter, Julianne (Felicity Jones), appears acquainted with a young man he has also seen with Nancy and who appears to be spying on Johnny himself. Julianne reveals she is pregnant, and her relationship with her father becomes closer following her stepfather's death. Nancy asks Worricker to help him discover the truth about the death of her brother at the hands of the Israeli authorities.

In the end, Worricker is forced to walk out of his job to uncover the truth. Before leaving, he gives Nancy a painting (by Christopher Wood) from his valuable art collection. After his disappearance, she hears information about her brother's death on the radio, realises it has been leaked to the media by Worricker, and sees the painting as a clue to his destination.

[edit] Cast

Johnny Worricker - Bill Nighy
Nancy Pierpan - Rachel Weisz
Benedict Baron - Michael Gambon
Ralph Wilson - Tom Hughes
Jill Tankard - Judy Davis
Anthea Catcheside - Saskia Reeves
Rollo Maverley - Ewen Bremner
Muna Hammami - Rakhee Thakrar
Julianne Worricker - Felicity Jones
Max Vallance - Richard Lintern
Alec Beasley - Ralph Fiennes
Allegra Betts - Kate Burdette
Anna Herve - Holly Aird
Brian Lord - Andrew Cleaver
Emma Baron - Alice Krige
Joseph Pierpan - Bruce Myers
Leona Chew - Marthe Keller
Melissa Legge - Aisling Loftus
Ted Finch - James McArdle
Master of the college - Jay Benedict
Mrs Ashanti - Surendra Kochar
Cambridge don - Bijan Daneshmand
Minicab owner - Kriss Dosanjh
Priest - Hywel Morgan
Radio announcer - Rory Morrison
Radio announcer - Charlotte Green

Parts were filmed in Jesus College, Cambridge, in which undergraduates and Fellows were recruited as extras. ^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Page Eight at the Internet Movie Database