Secret State - DVD

Content: It is an unimaginable disaster: when an explosion occurs in a petroleum factory, large parts of a city district are destroyed and 19 people are killed. The British Prime Minister promises a quick investigation and therefore travels to the USA to the PetroFax company, which operated the factory. But during the return flight the plane of the Prime Minister crashes mysteriously and his deputy Tom Dawkins (Gabriel Byrne) must now take care of the accident, get help to the people of the affected neighborhood and prevent further damage to his party. After all, elections are coming up soon and the ruling party is expected to win again despite the accident. After facing his new responsibility rather hesitantly at first, Dawkings soon outgrows himself and becomes a champion for justice and sovereign governance. But the more he gets to the bottom of the machinations that led to the accident, the more he has to realize how far-reaching the web of intrigue and corruption is and that his opponent does not even shy away from murder to cover up the truth...

Secret State is already the second film adaptation of the 1982 book A very British Coup by Chris Mullin. While the novel and the first TV adaptation in 1988 focused on the Cold War, director Ed Fraiman and screenwriter Robert Jones have taken it in a whole new direction here, moving the action to the present day and making globalized capitalism crucial to the machinations of politics and business. Especially when such topics as the wiretapping of citizens by the secret services are addressed, it becomes clear how much this updated adaptation hits the nerve of the time.

The four-part mini-series is extremely exciting build up, especially in the first half, and convinces with a dense production, an atmospheric visual language and an excellent ensemble of actors. Gabriel Byrne initially portrays the Deputy Prime Minister with almost stoic restraint, but then fills him more and more with passion and commitment. Byrne is supported by an excellent ensemble, from which especially Rupert Graves, Gina McKee (Notting Hill) and Ruth Negga, nominated as best supporting actress for an Irish Film and Television Award, stand out.

It is then also the good actors who help the story over some somewhat bumpy parts. For the plot takes on some not quite logical and believable proportions here and there. The construct, which is built up very carefully and cleverly at the beginning, gets a bit shaky towards the end and threatens not to stand up to a closer scrutiny. But fortunately, the whole thing gets exciting enough towards the finale to let such dramaturgical weaknesses fade away. The last few minutes, however, are guaranteed to divide the audience. Because without giving too much away, it can be said that Robert Jones has written an ending that, despite a certain unambiguity, still offers a lot of room for different interpretations. Some viewers might feel a bit left hanging in the air by this. However, on closer inspection, it is this not-quite-ambiguous ending that is the perfect way to end a story with such subject matter.

Although not entirely free of weaknesses and minor lengths, Secret State is overall a very accomplished political thriller that provides viewers with three hours of thrilling entertainment. Who appreciates British crime thriller fare with current topics such as terrorism, globalization, conspiracies and wiretapping scandals, can definitely access here confidently. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The audiovisual realization of the mini-series on this DVD is on a good TV level. The picture is clean, the colouring atmospheric and the sharpness is at a comfortably high level at most moments. While this isn't necessarily cinema level, there aren't any really distracting weaknesses that stand out either. The audio, as is usual with this genre, is primarily dominated by the dialogue. There are some neatly realized sound effects and ambient noises, but still, the surround channels are not overused. All in all, this is enough for a more than satisfied: good!

Extras: For each episode there is a short look behind the scenes, which turns out with 2 to 3 minutes each, however, very short. Nevertheless, these short featurettes are well worth watching.

Conclusion:Secret State is an exciting political mini-series that does not always strictly follow the laws of logic, but offers a total of almost three hours of good and captivating entertainment. The secret machinations in politics and industry coupled with the very topical subject of total surveillance by secret services makes this second adaptation of Chris Mullin's novel A Very British Coup an extremely watchable piece of contemporary TV entertainment. If you appreciate European political thrillers and can overlook minor dramaturgical hangs, you should definitely grab this double DVD

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp