Power Play (1978 film)

Power Play is a 1978 British-Canadian thriller film starring Peter O'Toole and David Hemmings, based on the non-fiction strategy book Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook by Edward N. Luttwak.[2]

Power Play
Directed byMartyn Burke[1]
Produced byBob Cooper (IV)
Ronald I. Cohen
Christopher Dalton[1]
Written byEdward N. Luttwak
Martyn Burke[1]
StarringPeter O'Toole
David Hemmings
Donald Pleasence
Music byKen Thorne
CinematographyOusama Rawi
Edited byJohn Victor-Smith
Distributed byRank Film Distributors[1]
Release date
  • 1978 (1978)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Canada
LanguageEnglish

The film was also known as Coup d'Etat.[3]

Plot

A small group of military officers frustrated by the corruption of a fictional contemporary European government decide that they must overthrow the current administration. But the coup's leader worries that there is a spy in their group.

An idealistic military officer becomes sickened by the government's use of extra--judicial killing and torture to suppress the terrorism that their incompetence and corruption has fostered. He decides that for the good of the country he must attempt to overthrow the regime and end the chaos. Worried only about infiltration by agents of the hated internal security chief, who knows he can expect no mercy, the colonel leads the plot to success, but realises too late that he overlooked the danger of a clique within his coup's own forces, and finds himself facing a firing squad along with those he has deposed.

Cast

Production

A UK-Canada co-production filmed in Canada and West Germany, Power Play includes scenes shot at the University of Toronto's University College quadrangle and hallways. Portions were also filmed at Canadian Forces Base Borden, and at Canadian Forces Base Toronto in Downsview.

The flag of the film's unnamed republic, "a generic country with no specific geography or culture" was green, yellow and black.

It was one of the first films financed under Canadian tax concessions.[4]

Reception

The film won Best Screenplay at the Canadian Film Awards.[5]

Notes
  1. "Power Play (1978)". movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  2. POWER PLAY Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 45, Iss. 528, (Jan 1, 1978): 179.
  3. Hard sell as important as bikinis at Cannes Martin, Robert. The Globe and Mail 17 Mar 1978: P.15.
  4. Canadian calls the shots at U.S. cable giant Toronto Star 16 Nov 1988: B9.
  5. Unseen Silent Partner sweeps film awards Scott, Jay. The Globe and Mail 22 Sep 1978: P.14.
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