“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” was directed by Guy
Ritchie (“The Covenant). It is based on the book “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly
Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors
Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops” by Damien Lewis. The film
touts itself as the true story of a secret mission in WWII. It fits into the
subgenre of commando movies.
The opening
set piece is straight out of “Guns of Navarone”. It’s our first clue that the movie will be treading
on familiar ground. Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) and three of his team are
on a fishing boat that is stopped by a German destroyer. Within five minutes we
are treated to the killing of a despicable Nazi and his entire crew and ship.
They never stood a chance. But we knew that. Some time later, March-Phillips is
let out of military prison to lead a secret mission that will win the war. The
mission takes place in late 1941. Great Britain is barely hanging on because
u-boat attacks are sinking cargo ships and will be a threat to troop transports
once the U.S. gets into the war. Gen. Gubbins (Cary Elwes) and Ian Fleming
(Freddie Fox) have concocted a plan that has gotten the approval of Churchill
(Rory Kinnear). It is going to be off
the books. Naturally, March-Phillips wants his own team of misfits. They are so good, he does not need a dozen of
them. Fleming’s plan is to destroy a supply ship that is essential to the
continuance of u-boat attacks. Sink the ship and the u-boats will die of
starvation, so to speak. The target is in a port off the coast of central
Africa. They will sail to the site and along the way, break a comrade out of Gestapo
custody. 60 dead Germans later, they are now five. Meanwhile, the duo of Richard
Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) and Marjorie Stewart (Elza Gonzalez) will go
undercover in the port. Marjorie is tasked with seducing the SS commander (Tigh
Schweiger). They enlist the local kingpin, who brings his best men to the
party. Speaking of which, the plan
involves distracting the Germans with a costume party for the officers and a
beer fest for the enlisted. If you already know that things will not go as
planned, then you have seen a few movies in the subgenre.
It just so
happens that this week I have been discussing combat porn in my Facebook group.
I defined it as over the top bloodshed that results in a high body count.
Sometimes a movie kills a lot of bad guys, but in a realistic way. An example
would be “Kingdom of Heaven” which has the highest body count of any war movie.
The deaths are not cartoonish and meant to slake the blood lust of a certain
segment of war movie lovers. And then we have movies like “The Siege of
Firebase Gloria” that revel in graphic violence. The movie that “Ministry” is
most reminiscent of in this respect is “Where Eagles Dare”. Both have a lot of
Germans as machine gun fodder and not a one German was able to kill a good guy,
or gal. In the prison breakout scene, the quartet go in with no plan and in
broad daylight. They kill at least 60 Germans and not a single one fires a shot
at them! Did I mention the movie is based on a true story? This is just a taste
of what is to come. It was hard to keep count, but I would estimate that over
90 Germans are killed in the film. Since it is partly a comedy, you can smile
at the over the top mayhem. And you might laugh when reminded that this is
supposedly a true story. (More on that later.)
The movie is
well-made. Ritchie is famous for his style that is similar to Quentin
Tarantino. Colorful characters and quick cuts. Naturally, viewers might compare it to
“Inglourious Basterds”. It’s not as flamboyant as that feature, but it has a
similar wit to it. In fact, it is similar to many movies. The commando raid
subgenre is rife with cliches. The motley band of skilled killers. The
time-line has to be moved up. The situation changes at the last minute. There
is a wily, evil Nazi. A kick-ass female. Lots of explosions. The bad guys pass
up using their guns in order to be dispatched in hand-to-hand combat. No bad
guy is just wounded, they all are killed. The mission is crucial to winning the
war.
The silliness
is dissipated a bit by the fine cast. Cavill is dashing as the rogue leader and
the rest of his team get their chance to shine.
One of them uses a bow and arrow to silently slay. He also collects human
hearts. Hilarious! Each man has a particular skill. They all share the skill of
killing Germans. The second track is Richard and Marjorie laying the groundwork
on shore. This is the spy part of the tale. Elza Gonzalez is a stand-out as
the hot secret agent that is imperturbable and capable of outwitting a sly
Nazi. She gets to dress as Cleopatra and sing a song. The movie deserves credit
for casting two African-Americans in key roles.
When I saw
commercials for the film and it was proclaimed to be a true story, I had to
chuckle. I immediately thought of “Fargo”.
I looked forward to seeing how far from the truth the movie strayed. I
have to admit the movie was more accurate than I thought it would be. That does
not mean that it is a good history lesson, but the movie does build a mighty
oak out of a real acorn. Given the slight effort to base the screenplay on the
book, I feel I can recommend the movie as an entertaining piece of action/thriller
with acceptable flights of fantasy. It is in the upper echelon of combat porn
films and a rare “based on a true story” bloodbath. Ironically, one of the
biggest liberties it takes with the actual story has to do with the body count.
There was no count in the actual mission.
But this would not be a Guy Ritchie film if you didn’t leave the theater
with blood splatters.
GRADE = B-
HISTORICAL ACCURACY:
In 1940, Churchill urged the creation of the
Special Operations Executive (SOE) to conduct missions behind enemy lines. In
1941, a smaller unit called the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF), also known as
No. 6 Commando, was created for black ops. (How black? The file on this mission
was not released until 2016.) It consisted of just 55 members. It was
commanded by Maj. Gus March-Phillips, who was described as not as charming as
the character in the movie, but was a daring leader and did not mind using
violence. The unit was tasked with small raids to inflict pain on the
Axis. Operation Postmaster was its first
mission. March-Phillips left Great Britain on August 9, 1941 on board the
unit’s trawler Maid of Honor. Do I need to tell you that the boat was
not stopped by a German destroyer resulting in massacre of the Germans? The original
mission was to scout rivers in west Africa where it had been reported German
u-boats were refueling. They discovered nothing, but then got information about
three ships that were aiding the German war effort. They were located in a port on the Spanish
island of Fernando Po. The ships were carrying arms and ammunition for German
forces. The cargo was not specifically associated with u-boats.
A plan was suggested by an
SOE agent in the area, not by Ian Fleming. It called for the taking of the
three vessels. One was a merchant ship named the Duchessa d’Aosta. The others were a tug and a barge. The
commandos would use two tugs to enter the harbor and tow away the three ships.
March-Phillips was in command of 4 SOE agents, 11 SSRF commandos, and some
locals to crew the tugs. Because Spain was neutral it was to be a top secret
mission with built in deniability. Despite that, the British general in command
of West Africa refused to support the mission and the Admiralty, which had
given the green light, had qualms and put a stop to it. The fear was the
reaction of Spain to what could be described as piracy. However, the Foreign
Office eventually stepped in and got the mission approved. An SOE agent named
Richard Lippett (Heron was based on him) was undercover at the port and he
arranged for a dinner party for the German officers the night of the raid.
On the night of Jan. 14, 1942, the two tugs entered the harbor
with no difficulty. March-Phillips and his second-in-command Capt. Appleyard
led a group in boarding the Duchessa. Private Anders Lassen was first aboard,
but there was no killing to be done. Other men boarded the tug and the barge.
Explosive charges were used to cut the anchor chains. The explosions were the
first warning that something was up, but the Germans were completely confused.
The only shots fired were by anti-aircraft guns thinking planes were attacking.
The three ships were towed out of the harbor and the mission was over in 30
minutes. There were no casualties for either side. 29 prisoners were taken. The Spanish government did pitch a fit, but
eventually it got over it. The post script before the credits is accurate about
the awards given to the principal members of the mission. What was not
mentioned was all the historical characters in the movie that participated in
the mission died before the end of the war.
As far as the
characters, some were real and others were not. Gen. Dubbins did use the
codename M and was the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s character in this James
Bond novels. Dubbins did not become head of the SOE until after the mission.
Ian Fleming was a naval officer attached to the SOE. He did have a hand in the
plan. He did use March-Phillips as inspiration for James Bond. (The movie gives
a cute nod to that by having Fleming introduce himself as “Fleming, Ian
Fleming”.) Churchill did take an interest in special operations, but he was not
as hands on for this mission as the movie implies. March-Phillips was not let
out of jail and he did not have to put together a team. He was already in
command of SSRF. Appleyard was his second-in-command, but he did not need
rescuing from Gestapo custody. Sorry, the attack on the prison did not happen. I
can assure you that they did not kill 60 Germans with not one bullet fired at
them. I can’t believe I’m having to tell you this. There was a Private Lassen,
but I found no evidence that he was proficient in bows, knives, and axes. If he
was, he did not get the chance to show it in Operation Postmaster. There was a
Graham Hayes on the mission, but there was no explosives expert named
Alvarez. There was a Marjorie Stewart,
but she was a secretary with the SOE and certainly did not participate in the
mission. She did marry March-Phillips and gave birth to a daughter after she
became a widow. I was surprised to learn that the movie was accurate in having all
members of the mission survive. The movie does not copy “The Dirty Dozen” in
that respect.
The movie is
part comedy, but I fear most members of the audience probably don’t get the
best jokes in it. I am referring to the way the movie builds up the mission as
a crucial mission that might save Great Britain. The idea that one cargo ship
was the sole supplier of the u-boat fleet is ludicrous. As is the notion that
Parliament would have removed Churchill if the mission created an international
incident! Another howler was the Germans up-armoring the cargo ship which meant
they would not be able to sink it.
