His
father was an officer in the White Army, but Oleg Penkovsky’s military service during
the Winter War and WWII earned him the trust and confidence of the Communist
Party, allowing him to rise high in the ranks of the GRU (military intelligence).
His decision to supply sensitive information about Khrushchev’s plan to deploy
nuclear missiles in Cuba is considered a crucial turning point in the Cold War.
(Plus, in Tom Clancy’s novels, he is also responsible for recruiting the
titular double-agent in The Cardinal of the Kremlin.) Penkovsky played a
risky game, but his partner was an amateur, Greville Wynne, recruited precisely
because he would not act like a spy. Their cloak-and-dagger relationship is the
focus of Dominic Cooke’s historical espionage thriller, Ironbark, which
had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
In
1960, Col. Penkovsky (codename: “Ironbark”) was technically the chair of the
Soviet Committee for Scientific Research, but his real duties were with the
GRU. He was therefore privy to military secrets and present for many of Khrushchev’s
bellicose tirades. The combination of the two convinced him the First Secretary’s
policies represented a grave danger to the Soviet Union and the rest of the
world, so he found a very clever method to reach out to the Yanks.
Unfortunately, the CIA was particularly weak in Moscow after the detection and
execution of their prime source, Major Pyotr Semyonovich Popov. That means CIA
Agent Emily Donovan must work with MI6, who rather cleverly recruit businessman
Greville Wynne, a sort of small-time Armand Hammer, who had already done deals
in captive Warsaw Pact nations.
Since
trade and technology fell under Penkovsky’s purview, it does not raise any red
flags (so to speak) when Wynne makes contact through official channels. For his
own protection, he knows nothing about the intelligence he carries from the GRU
officer to Donovan and her MI6 colleagues. Of course, he develops a pretty good
guess when the Cuban Missile Crisis ignites. He might not be a spy, but he’s
not an idiot either. As suspicion starts to fall on Penkovsky, Wynne agrees to
return again, at the risk of his life and freedom, even though his wife
suspects him of having another affair.
Ironbark
is
the best real-life Cold War thriller since Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies—and
it just might be even better. It is a highly compelling portrait of friendship
and an absolutely chilling depiction of how the Soviet system oppressed and
terrorized its people. We see the insides of KGB prisons as well as their
ruthless interrogation techniques, all of which are horrifying to witness.
Most
importantly, Ironbark still functions as a tense, intrigue-drenched thriller
that takes on grandly tragic dimensions during the third act. This is a painstakingly
crafted period production, with every little detail reflecting the early 1960s
time period (for appropriately depressing effect). Likewise, the cast uniformly
look their parts.
As
Wynne, Benedict Cumberbatch runs quite a spectrum, from the shallow but likable
twit MI6 recruits to the resolute man of conscience risking everything for
Penkovsky. Frankly, it looks like he did a De Niro crash diet to look properly malnourished
in later scenes. Yet, the Oscar-worthy standout, knockout performance comes
from Merab Ninidze (who also co-starred in Bridge of Spies and the once-censored
Stalinist allegory, Repentance) quietly commanding the screen as
Penkovsky. It is a smart, deeply humanistic portrait that brings all of the
Colonel’s inner conflicts to the fore.
We
almost lose patience with Jessie Buckley’s suspicious Sheila Wynne, but she too
has some nicely poignant scenes down the stretch. In many ways, this is a very
noir kind of film, but Rachel Brosnahan (Miss Maisel) manages to add quite a
bit of energy and humor as Donovan, without clashing with the film’s overall
tone.
Ironbark
is
good on its history and tightly executed when it comes to suspense. It’s only
January, but this is a clearly a film that deserves to be an awards contender
in December, especially for Ninidze. Very highly recommended, Ironbark screens
again this morning (1/25) and next Saturday (2/1) in Park City, tonight (1/25) and
next Sunday (2/2) in Salt Lake, and Monday (1/27) in Sundance Resort, as part
of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
