Coming attractions

Never pick a fight with someone who buys [virtual] ink by the barrel.

In theaters today is Breach, (trailer) described in the film's publicity as "Inspired by the true story of the greatest security breach in U.S. history."

It's the story of F.B.I. analyst Robert Hannsen, who was arrested in early 2001 after spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for more than 20 years. Hannsen is, to say the least, a complex and contradictory figure. He betrayed his country for money, sending others to their death, but he didn't seem to agree with or even like the Soviets he conspired with.

He was also a devout Roman Catholic. Old school devout. He belonged to Opus Dei, marched in anti-abortion rallies, sent his six kids to Catholic schools, and went to mass more than once a week.

If you're telling Hannsen's story, you've got to deal with that strange contrast of faith and treason. Was his faith just a completely compartmentalized separate category (and therefore an ultimately irrelevant and impotent thing)? Or was his intense devotion a kind of penance that Hannsen imagined could balance the scales against his lethal greed and betrayals? Or maybe there was something pernicious about his particular variety of fervent, reactionary religiosity, something that fed and enabled his misdeeds.

Whichever the case, that religiosity -- his devoutly conservative, William-Donohue-ish Catholicism -- is central and unavoidable in telling Robert Hannsen's story. So no matter how the movie addresses it, no matter how the always excellent Chris Cooper chooses to portray it, Breach is likely to drive the already rage-addled Donohue even further into madness. And that makes me happy.

So I give Breach an enthusiastic thumbs-up. (No, I haven't seen it yet, but after all, Donohue has made a career out of commenting on movies he hasn't seen.)

Comments

[Steve]

Was his faith just a completely compartmentalized separate category (and therefore an ultimately irrelevant and impotent thing)? Or was his intense devotion a kind of penance that Hannsen imagined could balance the scales against his lethal greed and betrayals? Or maybe there was something pernicious about his particular variety of fervent, reactionary religiosity, something that fed and enabled his misdeeds.

Or perhaps some sort of delusional "God-is-on-my-side" holy crusade mentality that places him above the law and man's governmental arrangements?

Don't know any specifics of Hannsen's life, just adding to the maybes...

[Slacktivist]

Or was his Opus Dei Catholicism protective coloration? I've met a few Evangelicals who have admitted to me that they are actually atheists, and that their support of the church is akin to my wearing pants: adhering to the local social custom.

[coriolis]

Sorry that Slacktivist should be Coriolis, I've just started to use Sea Monkey and I got confused with the cut and paste.

[Steve]

One other thing: I'm interested to see this now with this background information on Hannsen's life. But, who says they even address this conflict? Unless some really great writer and director are behind it, they'll like just make it into a action-spy movie.

[Erick Oppeen]

Or a simple case of Orwellian doublethink.

That said, I'd bet that money was the big motivator. The classic reasons for betrayal are:

Money
Ideology
Compromise
Ego

Jonathan Pollard was a combination of Ideology and Ego, but Money played a big role. Alfred Redl was mainly Compromise (he'd apparently been outed as a homosexual to the Okhrana at a time when this was a career-ender) but was also Money.

If I were running an agency where espionage was a threat, I'd keep an eye on the employees, and anybody who was living a lifestyle that their known income couldn't support would definitely get checked very carefully.

--Erick, history-of-espionage buff

[the opoponax]

but don't you think someone smart enough to be a spy would realize that they couldn't brag to their coworkers about living the high life due to their double agent ways?

if i were in that situation, i would probably sock the money away, wait 5-10 years, and retire to tahiti.

[All Bigots Suck]

Check out what racist blogger John Aravosis is up to:

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/02/university-of-illinois-drops-its-mascot.html

So, if you're keeping score...

Racist Native American mascots? GREAT!!!

Snickers ads that mock bigots? BAD!!!

Read the comments and see John criticize commenters who stand up for Native Americans:

http://www.haloscan.com/comments.php?user=katsiva&comment=5544025944077996436#2129191

[Xanthippas]

I hate to admit it, but I didn't even realize that movie was about him. I didn't know that Hannsen was devoutly religious; somehow I missed that in the articles I read about him. Was that really discussed much at the time, and I was just not paying attention?

[grenadine]

so to be vigilant in hunting down betrayal, we should be on the lookout for M.I.C.E.?

how delightful!

[spluffer]

So, if you build a better M.I.C.E. trap…

[Corbie]

Yes, his membership in Opus Dei gave rise to a few articles in the WaPo on the subject -- it was the first time I'd heard of the organization.

I think Hannsen claimed that his wife had inherited money as a way of excusing living beyond the means of someone at his pay grade.

[Ken]

Whichever the case, that religiosity -- his devoutly conservative, William-Donohue-ish Catholicism -- is central and unavoidable in telling Robert Hannsen's story. So no matter how the movie addresses it, no matter how the always excellent Chris Cooper chooses to portray it, Breach is likely to drive the already rage-addled Donohue even further into madness. And that makes me happy.

Uh, Slack, is this because you like the image of seeing this William Donohue's head explode or something?

[Ken]

...but don't you think someone smart enough to be a spy would realize that they couldn't brag to their coworkers about living the high life due to their double agent ways?

"Stupidity is like Hydrogen; it's the basic building block of the Universe."
-- either Frank Zappa or Harlan Ellison

Yes, his membership in Opus Dei gave rise to a few articles in the WaPo on the subject -- it was the first time I'd heard of the organization.

This must have been long before Da Vinci Code first hit the stands.

[toxicfur]

I heard an interview on Fresh Air a couple of weeks ago with the FBI agent who outed Hannsen as a spy. The interview was fascinating, and that agent was a consultant on the film and seemed to approve of what the filmmaker had done (granted, this was an interview with the director, as well, and it was a promotional interview, so what else could he say?). They did talk briefly about Hannsen's religion and the contradictions between his religious beliefs and his behavior, without coming to any real conclusions. They also discussed his apparent "sexual perversions" - for instance, he installed a camera in his bedroom so that his friend who stayed the night could watch him and his wife having sex.

Based on this incredibly scant evidence, I wonder if Hannsen was perhaps spying for the sense of power it gave him. There was the money, and there was the ability to control people and to believe that he was smarter and more powerful than anybody else in the FBI.

[Jake Marcet]

I feel a twinge of pride (albeit a very poorly earned sense of it) that Robert Hannsen went to my college.

[Jon H]

I heard a review this evening on Fresh Air, and the way the reviewer described it suggested that the wife was the font of ultra-conservative Catholicism and member of Opus Dei. It didn't mention Hansen being religious.

(Can women even *be* in Opus Dei?)

[Jesurgislac]

Jon: (Can women even *be* in Opus Dei?)

Oh yes. Women can be (types of membership) supernumeraries, numeraries, associates, or cooperators, and only women, according to wiki, can be numerary assistants.

Ruth Kelly, the Communities Minister in the UK Cabinet, is a member of Opus Dei - I presume a supernumerary member - which caused some controversy when she was appointed last year.

[bc]

I remember this case very well because I read everything I could at the time it happened. Not only was Hanssen a member of Opus Dei, he and FBI Director Louis Frei were in the very same cell or whatever of Opus Dei. I always thought that Louis Frei provided Hanssen protective cover for a very long time - not that he knew Hanssen was a spy, just that he could not realize that someone in Opus Dei with him was a spy. I was incensed and wrote to every Congressmen and Senator on judiciary committees in House and Senate when Hanssen's wife was given "survivor's benefits" in exchange for him coming clean on what he gave the Russians. So, we taxpayers are giving a traitor's wife and family $50K+ per year. If I recall correctly, Hanssen didn't make much for his information - only about $600K total. I do not recall if he had to forfeit that when he made his plea deal - maybe his wife has that plus her "survivor's benefit." (By the way, Hanssen is spelled with one n and two s.)

[Hob]

BC: Freeh is spelled with two E's and one H. And the notion that he was in Opus Dei is, as far as I know, a rumor unsupported by evidence; Opus Dei denies it, for what it's worth, and I don't know how anyone could verify who was in "the very same cell or whatever".

[cjmr]

I read a book about Hanssen a few years back and the man was so tediously dull that I don't see how they could possibly stay on-story and also make an exciting movie about it. I seem to recall that the premise of the person who wrote the book was that Hanssen was a double agent primarily because the Russian agents were giving him more positive attention than his own boss/coworkers were and because he enjoyed outsmarting the intelligence people who apparently considered him not very bright. He wasn't in it for the money.

[grendelkhan]

I saw Breach this weekend, and they did indeed make Hanssen's devout Catholicism a centerpiece of the film. But to the end, to me at least, he remained an inscrutable man. If what Hob said is true, then they certainly took liberties with Hanssen's level of interesting; he's not only obviously bright, but a very interesting character as well. You get the impression that he really could have fooled them all for so long.

Also, and this isn't a reason to go see the flick so much as something to note when you're there: the music that plays over the credits is very, very good. Stick around for it.

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