A true story. But not even close to being the whole story. Regarding, for example, the function of intelligence agencies in America.
A breach of national security. No doubt about it. But what is it exactly that is being secured? You won’t find that probed here anymore than you’ll find the nature of American foreign policy probed in a war film. Instead the focus is on the mind boggling gaps between the manner in which Robert Hanssen projected himself to the world and the world he actually lived in from day to day.
What a strange, strange man in a strange, strange land.
On the other hand, no way am I suggesting there aren’t some things worth securing.
And then there is the particularly murky role that God plays here. Proof yet again there is pratically nothing He can’t be twisted into sanctioning. Behaviors rationalized as somehow in accordance with His will.
wiki
[b]Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said, “One of the strengths of Breach, a thriller that manages to excite and unnerve despite our knowing the ending, is how well it captures the utter banality of this man and his world.”
The filmmakers fictionalized much of Eric O’Neill’s story, as mentioned in the end credits. Among the major changes made for the film:
- The real O’Neill knew going in that Hanssen was the subject of a counterintelligence investigation. There was no cover story about sexual perversions, and no dramatic meeting where O’Neill learned the truth.
- There was no extensive contact outside the office between O’Neill and Hanssen as portrayed in the film (the O’Neills visiting the Hanssens, the Hanssens dropping by O’Neill’s apartment). However, Hanssen did take O’Neill to church.
- The scene where Hanssen takes O’Neill out into the woods and drunkenly fires his pistol is fictional.
- Unlike in the movie, O’Neill never saw Hanssen after the arrest.
- While O’Neill did obtain Hanssen’s PDA, he took it to FBI techs to download rather than downloading it himself.[/b]
Robert Hanssen at wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hanssen
Breach [2007]
Directed by Billy Ray
[b]O’Neill: Wait, I’ve heard of this guy. Wasn’t he the one who hacked into another agent’s hard drive?
Burroughs: He’s the best computer guy we’ve got. He’s also a sexual deviant.
O’Neill: Oh.
…
Hanssen [first words on meeting]: Tell me five things about yourself, four of them true.
O’Neill: I’m sorry?
Hanssen: It’s a “game” we used to play, at the subanalytical unit. Keep ourselves sharp. It’s lie detection.
O’Neill: Oh.
[chuckling slightly]
O’Neill: I don’t think I’d be much good at bluffing.
Hanssen [rolling his eyes and walking off]: That would’ve counted as your lie, right there.[/b]
Later…
[b]O’Neill: You still want my list, sir? The five things?
Hanssen: Sure.
O’Neill: I won Boy Scout merit badges in every category except Rifleman. I haven’t been to confession since high school. There are several words I constantly misspell. My favorite drink is a vodka tonic. And I’m the only male in the last four generations of my family who hasn’t served in the military.
Hanssen: So what is your drink then, gin?
O’Neill: Scotch.
…
Hanssen: God expects you to live your faith, Eric, at all times. Besides, I disapprove of women in pantsuits.
O’Neill: You do?
Hanssen: Men wear pants. The world doesn’t need any more Hillary Clintons.
…
Hanssen: You know why the Soviet empire collapsed?
O’Neill: Good morning?
Hanssen: I made a career studying them. They were smarter than us. More devious, more determined. So why did they fail? Godlessness.
…
Hanssen: I saw a woman from Planned Parenthood on television this morning. A lesbian, naturally. Defending gay marriage. I almost ripped the cable out of the wall.
O’Neill: Bet she was wearing pants, huh?
…
O’Neill: Wait, what if he’s smarter than I am? I’ve never misread anyone this badly before. Except maybe you.
Burroughs: A couple of years ago, the bureau put together a task force. Lots of assets had been disappearing. So this task force was formed to find the mole who was giving them up. Our best analysts poring over data for years looking for the guy, and they could never quite find him. Guess who was put in charge of the task force? He was smarter than all of us. Actually, I can live with that part. It’s the idea that my entire career has been a waste of time, that’s the part I hate. Everything I’ve done since I got to this office, everything we’ve all been paid to do, he was undoing it. We all coulda just stayed home.
…
Hanssen [voiceover]: One might propose that I am either insanely brave or quite insane. I’d answer neither. I’d say, insanely loyal. Take your pick. There’s insanity in all the answers.
…
Juliana: Do you trust me?
O’Neill: (sighs) Yes.
Juliana: 'Cause I think you’ve got this idea somehow that telling me the truth about him would mean you were betraying your country or something.
…
Hanssen: I have to be sure that I can trust you.
O’Neill: Why don’t we go back to the office? You can polygraph me.
Hanssen: You heard of Aldrich Ames?
O’Neill: Of course.
Hanssen: Worst spy in U.S. History. Sold $2.5 million worth of information to the Soviets, and passed every polygraph the Agency gave him. But he never would have gotten past me. I can read anyone.
…
O’Neill: The page was from Juliana, obviously. My wife. She’s trying to reach me because I told her I’d be home by now, and because we’re in another fight, caused by you, as usual. Thanks for dropping by unannounced and lecturing her about Opus Dei. That was real helpful. Oh, and thanks for staring at her in church like she was from Mars. That also worked out great. Let me guess. You were testing her, too. You know, she asked me this morning why you’re like this. I had all these answers for her. ‘He’s misunderstood.’ ‘He’s trying to fix the bureau and no one will listen.’ ‘He was born in the wrong century.’ ‘His father’s a jerk.’ I got a whole list. But you know something Sir, at the end of the day it’s all crap. You are who you are. The why doesn’t mean a thing does it? DOES IT?!
Hanssen: I… matter… plenty.
…
Hanssen [being arrested]: So, this is how it goes.
…
Hanssen [to Agent Plesac]: Maybe now you’ll listen.
…
Plesac: Even if all you give them is why you did it, it buys you some goodwill. Well, that’s what Ames did at first. Just gave up the why.
Hanssen: That mustn’t have taken long. All Ames cared about was the money. Why else would he have done it? It’s not so hard to guess, is it? Considering the human ego. Can you imagine, sitting in a room with a bunch of your colleagues, everybody trying to guess the identity of a mole and all the while, it’s you they’re after, you they’re looking for? That must be very satisfying, wouldn’t you think? Or maybe he considered himself a patriot. Maybe he saw it as his duty to show us how lax our security was. We can’t rule that out as a possibility. Or maybe he… Oh, what good does speculating do? He spied. The why doesn’t mean a thing. Does it?
Plesac: No, I guess it doesn’t.
…
Hanssen: Pray for me.
O’Neill: I will.[/b]