I’m in my 40s, and that means I’m apparently at the point in my life where I evolve into a middle-aged World War II armchair expert.

It comes for us all eventually.

And in that vein, I do love a good World War II film. So Fortitude, which is set to tell the story of one of my favourite operations of the entire war, already has my attention.

But then you add Nicolas Cage?

Well, now you have my money.

So, what was Operation Fortitude?

Operation Fortitude was a massive Allied military deception carried out as part of Operation Bodyguard, the wider campaign designed to conceal the true location and timing of the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944.

Fortitude itself was divided into two major operations, Fortitude North and Fortitude South, with perhaps the most famous element being the attempt to convince the German High Command that the main Allied invasion would come through the Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy.

And the lengths they went to were incredible.

The Allies exploited the prestige of legendary American general George S. Patton, placing him at the head of the entirely fictional First United States Army Group. They created fake military formations, dummy equipment, false radio traffic and an elaborate network of misinformation.

Inflatable tanks, dummy aircraft and fake installations helped create the illusion of an enormous army preparing to cross the English Channel.

But perhaps most importantly, the Allies had one of the greatest weapons of the entire war:

People who were exceptionally good at lying to Nazis.

Double agents working through Britain’s Double-Cross System fed German intelligence a carefully constructed stream of false information, reinforcing the idea that Normandy was either a diversion or merely the precursor to the real invasion at Calais.

It is one of those stories that sounds like somebody made it up for a movie — except it actually happened.

And that is precisely why I find it so fascinating.

Gone are the guts-and-glory stories of D-Day and Midway. In their place is the cunning, ingenuity, deception and sheer audacity that also helped win the war.

As Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War:

“Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are not expected.”

More than two thousand years later, the Allies essentially turned that principle into an entire military operation.

And Now Hollywood Is Taking a Swing at It

Seeing this story brought to the big screen is exciting enough, but Fortitude has assembled one hell of a cast.

Matthew Goode plays Thomas Argyll Robertson, while Ed Skrein takes on the role of Dudley Clarke. Alice Eve appears as Nancy Armstrong, Michael Sheen plays Winston Churchill, Jordi Mollà portrays legendary double agent Juan Pujol García, Art Malik plays Ian Fleming and Paul Anderson steps into the boots of Bernard Montgomery.

The wider cast also includes Ben Kingsley, Lukas Haas, Adrian Topol, Emilio Sakraya, Akar Faraj, Ron Perlman, Ronni Ancona, Lorena Andrea, Maeve Courtier-Lilley, Freddy Carter, Jonathan Aris and Andrew P. Stephen.

But come on.

We need to talk about Nicolas Cage.

Cage plays Dušan “Duško” Popov, the Serbian lawyer, businessman and intelligence agent who became a double agent for MI6 during the Second World War.

Popov ostensibly worked for Germany’s Abwehr while secretly feeding misinformation back to the Germans as part of Britain’s Double-Cross System. He was wealthy, charismatic, audacious and lived the kind of larger-than-life existence that would later lead to comparisons with James Bond.

In other words, somebody looked at this character and apparently thought:

“You know who we need? Nicolas Cage.”

And they were absolutely correct.

Not only is there actually something of a resemblance between Cage and Popov, but who else would you cast as a larger-than-life wartime spy who travelled around Europe deceiving the Nazis?

This is Cage territory.

A Different Kind of War Film

What really has me interested in Fortitude, though, is its apparent tone.

Films such as Operation Mincemeat and Pressure have explored less conventional stories from the Second World War with a relatively serious approach. From what we have seen of Fortitude, however, this looks like it might be willing to have a little more fun with the absurdity of what actually happened.

And honestly, how could you not?

The real operation involved fake armies, inflatable tanks, double agents, misinformation, fictional military formations and some of the greatest deception operations ever attempted.

You barely need to embellish it.

The history is already ridiculous.

If Fortitude can capture that absurdity while still showing just how important these people and their deceptions were to the success of the Normandy landings, we could be looking at something genuinely special.

I’m fascinated by this little corner of World War II history, I love a good spy story, and Nicolas Cage playing Duško Popov feels like one of those pieces of casting that simply makes sense.

So yes, my transformation into a middle-aged World War II armchair expert continues.

All I need now is a model Spitfire, an unhealthy interest in military logistics and the uncontrollable urge to explain Operation Fortitude to everyone at Christmas.

And frankly, I’m ready.

Plus, any movie where the Nazis lose is a good story in my book.