This film is set in 1984, and is highly indicative not only of the spirit of the time, but also of newspaper culture and practices of the 1980s.
The cold war was in full swing in 1984. The Thatcher/Reagan collaboration was comforting to some, and deeply disconcerting to others. The threat of nuclear war was profoundly feared, and sex scandals dogged (but never completely undermined) the Conservative government. The presence of US Air bases in the UK was similarly a matter of national ambivalence.
The newspaper industry was vastly different from today's industry. Each newspaper had its own print unit, and computers were the exception rather than the rule. The culture of lunchtime drinking and an all-male working environment were part of Fleet Street life - and of course in 1984 the major English newspapers and agencies were still based in Fleet Street.
One scene in particular stands out as a symbol of past times: a character is retiring and all the newspaper staff congregate in the printing press for a noisy beating of printing blocks on tables. The practice was commonplace in the mid-1980s, and has died out since the introduction of new technologies. The changes had begun in the early 1980s, but were precipitated by the move of the Times and associated publications from Grays Inn Road (near Fleet Street) to Wapping in 1986.
I watched Defence of the Realm for the first time in 1987 and since then I've come back to it about once a year; I notice something new every time. I'm a huge fan of Denholm Elliott and he is impressive as always, playing a washed-out hack with a drink problem (sadly all too common among journalists of the late 20th century). His character Vernon Bayliss dies in suspicious circumstances while working on a secret story, which Gabriel Byrne's character Nick Mullen pursues. Byrne is at the beginning of his film career and he deserved more recognition than he got for this film; his performance is solid and convincing as a journalist caught in the dilemma between the need to sell news and the need to report the truth. Assisted by Nina (Greta Scacchi), the secretary of an MP who is being framed, Nick finds himself watched, followed, and threatened by government security personnel. Scacchi's character is reserved but brave, and her performance, like Byrne's, is understated. This is absolutely necessary to prevent the film slipping into melodrama, and is no doubt the source of comments in other reviews about the British character of the whole film. Other comments in previous reviews, such as scorn for supposed America-bashing, are anachronistic. The film's political concern is not with America's status as a superpower, but with Britain's participation in undemocratic means of maintaining the defence of the realm.
The film is best understood as a comment on its own historical context rather than as a universal or timeless thriller. It shows us where we have come from and points to features that have developed in new ways in contemporary culture (e.g. the importance of fear of the 'Other' now expressed as a fear of Islam rather than of Soviet powers). The musical score is excellent; it adds greatly to the sense of danger and suspense and of course contributes to the historical feel of the film. The script is similarly sharp and suitable; nothing is wasted.
I've enjoyed this film over and over, since shortly after its first release until the present day. I lived in London throughout the 1980s and remember very well the zeitgeist: the hopes and fears of the decade. The Berlin wall came down in 1989 and Thatcher lost her power in 1991; since then everything has changed. But in 1984, the world of Defence of the Realm was the world we lived in.
The cold war was in full swing in 1984. The Thatcher/Reagan collaboration was comforting to some, and deeply disconcerting to others. The threat of nuclear war was profoundly feared, and sex scandals dogged (but never completely undermined) the Conservative government. The presence of US Air bases in the UK was similarly a matter of national ambivalence.
The newspaper industry was vastly different from today's industry. Each newspaper had its own print unit, and computers were the exception rather than the rule. The culture of lunchtime drinking and an all-male working environment were part of Fleet Street life - and of course in 1984 the major English newspapers and agencies were still based in Fleet Street.
One scene in particular stands out as a symbol of past times: a character is retiring and all the newspaper staff congregate in the printing press for a noisy beating of printing blocks on tables. The practice was commonplace in the mid-1980s, and has died out since the introduction of new technologies. The changes had begun in the early 1980s, but were precipitated by the move of the Times and associated publications from Grays Inn Road (near Fleet Street) to Wapping in 1986.
I watched Defence of the Realm for the first time in 1987 and since then I've come back to it about once a year; I notice something new every time. I'm a huge fan of Denholm Elliott and he is impressive as always, playing a washed-out hack with a drink problem (sadly all too common among journalists of the late 20th century). His character Vernon Bayliss dies in suspicious circumstances while working on a secret story, which Gabriel Byrne's character Nick Mullen pursues. Byrne is at the beginning of his film career and he deserved more recognition than he got for this film; his performance is solid and convincing as a journalist caught in the dilemma between the need to sell news and the need to report the truth. Assisted by Nina (Greta Scacchi), the secretary of an MP who is being framed, Nick finds himself watched, followed, and threatened by government security personnel. Scacchi's character is reserved but brave, and her performance, like Byrne's, is understated. This is absolutely necessary to prevent the film slipping into melodrama, and is no doubt the source of comments in other reviews about the British character of the whole film. Other comments in previous reviews, such as scorn for supposed America-bashing, are anachronistic. The film's political concern is not with America's status as a superpower, but with Britain's participation in undemocratic means of maintaining the defence of the realm.
The film is best understood as a comment on its own historical context rather than as a universal or timeless thriller. It shows us where we have come from and points to features that have developed in new ways in contemporary culture (e.g. the importance of fear of the 'Other' now expressed as a fear of Islam rather than of Soviet powers). The musical score is excellent; it adds greatly to the sense of danger and suspense and of course contributes to the historical feel of the film. The script is similarly sharp and suitable; nothing is wasted.
I've enjoyed this film over and over, since shortly after its first release until the present day. I lived in London throughout the 1980s and remember very well the zeitgeist: the hopes and fears of the decade. The Berlin wall came down in 1989 and Thatcher lost her power in 1991; since then everything has changed. But in 1984, the world of Defence of the Realm was the world we lived in.