“The Angel (2018 American film)”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Angel is an Israeli-American spythriller film directed by Ariel Vromen and starring Marwan Kenzari and Toby Kebbell among others. It is an adaptation of the non-fiction book titled The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel and written by Uri Bar-Joseph and translated by David Hazony.

Plot

The movie opens with black and white news clipping narratives about the Six Days War between Israel and Egypt, giving an outline of the war and its immediate aftermath.

On September 3, 1973, Ashraf Marwan lands in Rome, Italy and meets Arab insurgents on the outskirts of the Rome International Airport, with a missile launcher that he was able to smuggle in his suitcase due to his diplomatic passport which prevented his suitcase from being checked. He tells the insurgents that he must leave immediately, as he is an Egyptian diplomat and cannot be seen. The insurgents aim the launcher at a commercial airliner that is heading to Israel. It appears that the missiles will hit the airplane as it takes off.

The scene flashes back to three years earlier in 1970. Ashraf Marwan is in London studying; he's there with his wife, Mona, and their young son. His wife is the daughter of Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, and because he is the president's son-in-law he is privy to sensitive government information and meetings. During one such meeting, President Nasser is discussing with his cabinet the resentment the Egyptians feel about the lost of land to Israel during the Six Days War; Ashraf insists that Nasser tries a diplomatic solution with Israel, with the USA brokering the talks between the two countries. However, Nasser and his men are against it because they don't want to lose the backing of the USSR, whom seems to be the only other superpower country that is comparable to the USA, since the Americans are backing the Israelis. Ashraf insists that they cut their ties with the Soviets, since he thinks that the Soviet Union will not be able to substantiate itself for much longer. Nasser rebukes Ashraf, and afterwards takes Mona aside to sharply criticize Ashraf to her.

Ashraf is angry and embarrassed; and soon Nasser is requesting that the family returns back to Egypt after Ashraf is caught on surveillance photos drinking, gambling and mingling with his English friends, one of which is an actress, Diana Ellis. It is heavily implied that Ashraf has a gambling problem and that he is being financially supported by President Nasser. His lingering resentment leads him to call the Israeli's Ambassador to London, Michael Comay, stating that he has important information to share; but because he is not able to talk to Comay directly, he hangs up frustrated.

Soon after, President Nasser dies of a heart attack, and Ashraf and his family are recalled back to Cairo. Anwar Sadat becomes the next president of Egypt, and his ideologies are more in line with that of Ashraf. Ashraf is able to win over Sadat with a display of loyalty, and because of that he's able to climb the political ladder of Sadat's government. Sadat wants Egypt to save its face from the humiliating defeat of the Six Days War, and regain its loss territory; he feels it can only be done with an invasion of Israel to humble it and force Israel into peace negotiations that are suitable to Egypt, specifically retaking the Sinai peninsula.

Back in London, Mossad agents reach out to Ashraf after playing him a recording of his call asking to speak with Ambassador Comay. Ashraf meets his Mossad handler, a man who goes by the name of Alex, but whose real name is Danny. Ashraf begins to sell his country's secrets to the Israeli government for monetary gain.

The information that Ashraf provides Alex/Danny is reliable, and Ashraf has been profiting well on his treason to Egypt. Danny tells Zvi Zamir, the director of Mossad, that Ashraf's motive is just purely greed and egotism because he wants the money. Danny and Ashraf grow a mutual rapport with each other; with Ashraf's Mossad codename being "the angel", as well as coming up with a plan for a warning of immediate war if Ashraf is unable to meet in person. In the case of immediate war, Ashraf will phone Alex/Danny with a message using the word "potassium".

Ashraf gives the Israelis two warnings about the threat of a military invasion, but both warnings turns out to be false. Egypt finds itself having to ally with other Arab countries because the Soviets have cut their support with them, and the USA will not side with Egypt against Israel. Ashraf goes to Gaddafi on behalf of President Sadat for support and for access to the Libyan oil reserves. However, when Israel shoots down a Libyan commercial plane filled with civilians, claiming it was by accident, Gaddafi wants vengeance, but Sadat is not willing to knowingly attack civilians. Knowing that this will anger Gaddafi as well as the other Arab nations if Egypt does not support Gaddafi, Ashraf comes up with a ploy to stabilize the situation. He tells Sadat that he will go to Gaddafi to pledge Egypt's support by aiding Gaddafi's "an eye for an eye" plan, so to appease the Arab nations, but that the attack will not be successful, therefore avoiding a provocation with Israel.

The scene returns back to the opening, September 3, 1973; Ashraf is taking out the missile launcher from his suitcase at Rome International Airport, but he's shown to have removed a pin in the launcher, making the launcher ineffective. When the Israeli commercial airliner takes off, the launcher does not fire despite the trigger being pulled multiple times. Italian authorities are notified of the insurgents and they are apprehended.

Ashraf has been able to regain the trust of Mossad because of the failed attack in Rome; providing them with deliberate information about the attack knowing that it would be unsuccessful, but at the same time sabotaging it to maintain the delicate nature of Egypt and Israel. Zvi Zamir, however, is still cautious of Ashraf's informations because of the two previous false alarms about imminent war; this caused Israel to mobilize its forces and even call up its reserve, the false alarm not only caused panic but also caused Israel the lost of millions of dollars for its mobilizations.

Ashraf calls Alex/Danny and tells him that the manager needs a shipment of potassium, their codeword for war. Danny is convinced that this time the warning will happen, he tells Zamir that Ashraf used the word "potassium", something that he has never done in the past two previously false alarms. Ashraf requests to meet with Zamir, and he also convinces Zamir of the upcoming invasion. Zamir codes back to Israel that Egypt will invade on Yom Kippur, and that he believes the information is reliable.

In a playback of Sadat being convinced by a military general to invade Israel, Ashraf is shown to go with Sadat to talk privately afterwards, to convince him to avoid the invasion. Sadat says he has no choice, that all efforts of a diplomatic possibility have failed, and that a coup against his government is inevitable if Egypt does not invade because the Egyptian people want a response for its territorial losses during the Six Days War. Ashraf is able to convince Sadat to hold off on the invasion by referencing the fable about the boy who cried wolf; he tells Sadat that if the Israelis think that they are being attacked when they're not, then when they are finally attacked, they will disregard it as another false alarm. He tells Sadat to make the false invasions by military war game exercises, with the actual invasion on Yom Kippur.

However, as anticipated, Israel dismissed this last warning as another false alarm; Egypt and Syria jointly attacks Israel on Yom Kippur. Once again, black and white news clipping narratives outlines the Yom Kippur War and its aftermath; with Israel and Egypt finally brokering a peace treaty through the Camp David Accords, and President Jimmy Carter shaking hands in a three-way with President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin.

Years later, Danny meets Ashraf on a public bench; he presents him with a gift, a book of Aesop's Fables. Danny asks Ashraf if he is familiar with the story of the boy who cried wolf, letting Ashraf know indirectly that he's figured out his ploy. Ashraf replies that if a peace treaty came out of it, then they both did what they could to save their countries. The movie ends with text summaries stating that Ashraf died mysteriously in 2007 in his London flat, and that he is recognized as a national hero in both Israel and Egypt; and that Sadat and Begin were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their peace treaty.

Cast

Production

On May 5, 2017, it was announced that Marwan Kenzari was set to star in The Angel for director Ariel Vromen from a screenplay by David Arata with Netflix releasing the film.^[1]

The film began production in early July 2017 in London, England^[1] and also shot in the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, and Morocco.^[2] The rest of the cast was confirmed on July 25, 2017 with the film in principal production.^[2]

Release

The film was released on September 14, 2018, although originally it was scheduled for June 15, 2018.^[3]

References

1. ^¹{{Cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marwan-kenzari-topline-netflixs-real-life-spy-drama-angel-1000372|title=Marwan Kenzari to Topline Netflix's Real-Life Spy Drama 'The Angel' (Exclusive)|last=Galuppo|first=Mia|date=2017-05-05|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2017-05-05|language=en-US}}
2. ^¹https://variety.com/2017/film/news/netflix-boards-ariel-vromen-spy-thriller-the-angel-1202504253/
3. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/features/15-netflix-original-movies-to-look-out-for-in-2018/5125738.article|title=15 Netflix Original movies to look out for in 2018|website=Screen International|first=Orlando|last=Parfitt|date=January 22, 2018|accessdate=January 22, 2018}}

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

References

External links