Operation Mincemeat

A fascinating WWII historical drama which details an elaborate deception named Operation Mincemeat, devised in 1943 and approved by Winston Churchill. The plan would hopefully fool Hitler into believing that British allied forces were going to strike Southern Europe through Greece instead of Sicily.

The deception involved dropping a corpse with misleading papers off the coast of Spain where hopefully the Nazi spies would take notice. But was it a fool proof plan? It was stated, “The plan will work if we make it work. Let’s play a humiliating game on Hitler!” The Germans took the bait and diverted their troops from Sicily to Greece during the invasion which left Sicily unprotected.

As a result, Sicily was liberated much quicker and tens of thousands of lives were saved. One of the British Intelligence officers cheerfully exclaimed afterwards, “Hitler swallowed it hook, line and sinker! We fooled the Fuhrer and there’s some delight in that!”

The little-known story surrounding this secret operation transforms into an intriguing wartime drama starring Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen as the two brilliant intelligence officers who came up with the deceptive plan.

However, audiences who are expecting an action-packed wartime drama may be disappointed as the entire film focuses on setting up the deception and putting it into action.

The fact that this film is based on an extraordinary true story seems indirectly comical and should leave audiences with a smile on their faces for one reason. Hitler was an evil and shrewd leader – yet he was conned, and it could very well have contributed to the downfall of the Third Reich.

★★★ ½