Venice Review: ‘A Merciful Spy’ by Steve James

Given the fragile state of world peace right now, it seems like a good time for a final movie. circle dreams It was led by Steve James, a little-known piece of Cold War history that could have devastating consequences today. Unfortunately, the James Venice Film Festival with no competition title a sympathetic spy It doesn’t offer the drama and suspense you’d expect from the story of a mild-mannered American scientist who brings delicate nuclear secrets to the Russians with a mix of idealism and naiveté.

The subject is Harvard graduate Theodore “Ted” Hall, who at age 18 is the youngest person to work on the Manhattan Project under Robert Oppenheimer, who developed nuclear weapons at Los Alamos. Hall died of cancer in 1999, but not before he gave a series of video interviews in the false belief that he wouldn’t be around to see them on the air. He was a humble, no-nonsense person who didn’t like to make big announcements (he describes his first entry into the nuclear weapons program without much fanfare or embellishment and adds, “I thought it was exciting”). However, the use of the atomic bomb in Japan in 1945 disturbed him and wounded his conscience. “200,000 people burned,” he said, “and nobody seemed to care.”

Hall’s initial view was that such a disruptive technology should not be in the hands of any nation, and together with his Harvard friend Saville Sachs, he devised a plan to share details of his work with the Russian government. The presentation of this is pretty dry using actors to put together key scenes, but this isn’t a traditional spy story and Hall wasn’t James Bond. It seems hopeless now, but James is able to capture the mood of post-war America, where the Russians are considered allies and the so-called “Red Scare” is years away from Senator Joseph McCarthy’s endorsement.

However, after doing the deed…nothing. It seems impossible to imagine now, but despite being targeted by the FBI and detained at least once, Hall faced no consequences for his actions (even Sachs’ own son was shocked). Instead, Hall lived into her 70s without fear of knocking on the door, and speaking for her, his wife, Joan, seems pretty comfortable as well. A brief diversion into the story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who did the same and got the electric chair for it, leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth, especially when Hall’s high-flying, extra-sister sibling turns up to be featured. in the United States. . The military-industrial complex may have inadvertently covered it up due to its proximity to government secrecy.

Holly’s story is phenomenal, but unfortunately it’s not told that way, and while it seems fair, it doesn’t create action and suspense when it really isn’t. a sympathetic spy Still, he fails to fully deal with the enormity of his subject.

With the war in Ukraine still raging and Putin’s nuclear artillery casting a long shadow over Western democracy, it would be a good time for a movie like this to reflect the true impact of Hall’s decision (was it really a victory for compassion and humanity? or just teen spree? ?). It certainly doesn’t help that Hall never seems to reconcile with his legacy; When asked if he was proud of what he had done, and asked in a very harsh tone, especially by a difficult British interviewer, he did not seem to have a problem with the question. “It would be nice to be proud,” he shrugs, “but I’m not a proud person.”