James Hitchcock
"Power Play" is rare example of a film with an entirely fictional plot but based on a non-fiction book, in this case "Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook" by Edward N. Luttwak. The action takes place in an unnamed, fictitious Western European country. The events of the plot bear a certain resemblance to real-life events which took place in Portugal in 1975, three years before the film was made, but the film-makers seemed to have wanted to avoid identification with any specific country. The names of the characters are taken from various languages- German (Zeller, Stauffenberg), French (Rousseau), Spanish (Barrientos), Russian (Kirov) and Arabic (Anwar), even English (Blair). The country's flag, seen displayed prominently in many scenes, is green, yellow and black- colours probably chosen because no actual European country uses this particular combination.Like Portugal in 1975, this country is a civilian dictatorship with an oppressive, corrupt and authoritarian government. Resistance to the regime is growing not only among the general population- there have been numerous acts of armed resistance, including the kidnapping and murder of a cabinet minister- but also among the armed forces who are unhappy at being asked to repress their own people in the interests of the unelected politicians. A small group of military officers, led by Colonel Anthony Narriman, decide that they must lead a coup to overthrow the regime and restore democracy.Most of the film is taken up with details of preparations for the coup. The plotters come close to discovery on a number of occasions by the regime's intelligence service. One of the group is a heavy drinker and the others worry that he might blurt out their secret while in his cups. They succeed in recruiting Colonel Zeller, the commander of a tank regiment, to their cause, knowing that they will need his tanks to take the capital, but worry if he is a man they can trust. The closest they come to disaster is when they attempt to recruit another regimental commander only to find he is 100% loyal to the government, and have to take immediate action to prevent him from betraying them. The film is able to generate a good deal of tension, justifying its "thriller" label, until the appointed day arrives and the conspirators are able to send their tanks onto the streets to reclaim their country for democracy. There is, however, to be a surprising denouement.The film, officially a British-Canadian co-production, stars some of the leading lights of the British cinema from the seventies, including Peter O'Toole as the enigmatic Zeller, David Hemmings as the idealistic Narriman and Donald Pleasence as Blair, the sinister head of the secret police. (No jokes please. The film was made long before Britain had a Prime Minister with that particular surname). All of them play their roles well, but the film seems to have largely vanished from sight in recent years. (I recently caught a rare screening on London Live, a TV channel which seems to specialise in reviving forgotten British films from the seventies, eighties and nineties).I think that the reason why the film has faded is that it no longer seems as topical as it once did. In the Cold War years of the seventies military coups were a frequent occurrence in various parts of the world, including Europe. Not long after the film was made there was to be an unsuccessful coup in Spain and a successful one in Poland when the military under General Jaruzelski succeeded (with the connivance of the Soviet Union) in removing the country's civilian Communist leadership from power. Today, fortunately, they are less common than they once were, even in Latin America, and virtually unthinkable anywhere in Europe. The result is that, although "Power Play" is a reasonably well-made action-thriller, it does not speak to the world of 2017 in the way that it might have spoken to the world of 1978. 6/10
cesar-35
I find this movie quite interesting, I saw this movie in the Philippines during the height of the 1986 revolution in the Phil. I liked the way Peter O Toole played the character of a cunning officer. The treachery of the power grabbers was for real. Other cast and characters of the movie are good to their respective roles. I could not believe the setting was in Canada. I thought it was in Latin America. I recommend this movie to all countries with unstable political system. There's a lot of lesson you could learn from this movie. Its a warning to military adventurism and to those who wants to grab power unconstitutionally. I want to own a DVD copy of this movie. Where could I find it?
Stephen Bailey
This almost unknown movie remains one of my favourites. David Hemmings plays Colonel Narriman, a charismatic infantry colonel in a small viciously repressive country. For years he's tried to keep out of "politics" and ignore the horrors around him but finally he can't take it any more and is pursuaded to lead a military coup. To ensure success he reluctantly accepts the help of the officer in charge of the country's tanks, Colonel Zellar (played by Peter O'Toole). Their main enemy is the head of the secret police, a character with the hilarious name of BLAIR, played brilliantly by Donald Pleasence. I love the way this movie explores Narriman's mental anguish as conscience gradually overtakes duty and it racks up the tension wonderfully as the coup is planned and eventually carried out. I'm not giving the 'twist' away but rest assured the scene where Narriman finally realises he's been used is as good as you'll ever see. This is a genuinely scary film and perfectly portrays life in a country where the law is whatever the president says it is. Don't miss it!
Michael
'Political thriller' mish-mash of the bargain-basement package-tour-for-the-cast variety, with enough intrigue, insurrection and military corruption to keep its small banana republic going for the next 25 revolutions, but none of it remotely interesting or even watchable. If it were a European co-production farrago then at least maybe there'd be a wry smile or two raised by incompetent dubbing, but it's impossible to mask the embarrassment of the English-speaking "stars" in their native tongue, or gloss over the unease of the 'international' cast members. On top of that, this TV print looks like it had been salvaged from a Third World sanitation ditch, and it seems the director must have been shot by terrorists before he had a chance to shoot any of his own movie.
