A Very British Coup
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Movie Reviews of A Very British Coup
Movie Review: Forget The Socialism. This Is A Clever Political Drama
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent British television play of political ruthlessness, with clever plotting and a terrific performance by Ray McAnally as a besieged socialist prime minister.
Harry Perkins, "from Sheffield, steel worker and third generation Socialist," is elected Prime Minister. He said what he'd do if he were elected and now he and his cabinet are going to it. He plans to have American bases moved out of Britain, destroy Britain's nuclear armory, phase out nuclear energy, break the power of the entrenched old boys, break up the newspaper monopolies and reinvest in British jobs. "I once tried middle of the road," Perkins says. "I was knocked down by traffic in both directions." He also plans to run an open government because that's what the people want. "I'm going to tell you the truth. The whole truth," Perkins says to the British people during a telecast. "He can't do that," one of the press lords says. "He's the prime minister."
As the hidden government, which includes senior civil servants, the aristocratic establishment, press lords and the CIA, realizes that Perkins really means what he says, they begin gathering forces to stop him, and nearly succeed. At the climax to the program, Perkins is caught in a set-up by the CIA, Sir Percy Browne (a senior British intelligence head played by Alan MacNaughtan in a performance as nuanced as McAnally's) and a press lord to make him appear corrupt and bought. The solution Sir Percy offers him is resignation on grounds of ill health, with a new prime minister who would be more amenable. That would be a coup, Perkins says. But a very British coup, Sir Percy points out, with no firing squads, no torture.
How Perkins handles this is clever and satisfying. It underlines what he said to a disloyal minister he forced out of office. "You always were a dirty fighter," the minister said bitterly. "Yes," Perkins replied, with a smile.
If you like political one-upmanship, a taut storyline and first-rate acting, you should enjoy this program very much. Ray McAnally is outstanding as the charismatic, devious and honorable Harry Perkins.
Movie Review: Glad To See It On DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great movie, originally played in the US on PBS's "Masterpiece Theater" in the 1980's. It tells the story of Harry Perkins, a working-class politician and socialist, who is able to do the impossible and win a general election in Britain. Once he meets with his ministers, he is determined to stick with his campaign promises (a novel idea!) and reform the country for the better. He wants to push the US military out of Britain, disarm the country's nuclear arsenal, and stop the IMF from holding the British economy hostage by using Soviet economic aid. He is also a true democrat -- trying to make the work of the government as transparent and accountable as possible, and making sure the public knows what's going on. This brings Perkins a great deal of popularity, to the detriment of his Tory (and moderate Labour) opponents.
But Perkins' Labour government is being undermined by the conservatives who run the media and government. There are many meetings in "smoke-filled rooms" by the media elite, who seem to closely mirror Rupert Murdoch (owner of Fox News and the New York Post). Even with help from the CIA, they initially can't find any dirt on the Prime Minister -- though Perkins' Foreign Minister is caught having an affair and forced to resign. Eventually, they find that the Prime Minister did have a brief affair in the 1970's, and they try to blackmail him into resigning. But there's a twist ending that I won't spoil in this review.
The main character in this film reminds one of "Red Ken" Livingstone, the maverick leftist mayor of London. Livingstone was purged from the Labour Party by Tony Blair in 2000, only to be reinstated, because Blair's popularity is plummeting and Livingstone's is soaring. Seeing "A Very British Coup" is very much like seeing a documentary of what a Ken Livingstone would have to do in order to maintain his integrity in power.
I highly recommend this film, and I'm very happy to finally see it out on DVD.
Movie Review: "Yes, Minister" with Brass Knuckles
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this based on raves I've heard elsewhere, and they were spot on. SOMEHOW, a Socialist takes over the Labour Party in England and manages to get elected. OK, so that's already highly unlikely, but if you let that go, you're in for a fantastic ride.One sees how strings are pulled not only by established powers in England, but by Americans as well. While the body count isn't as high as the US' overthrow or Mossadeq in Iran in 1953 or Allende in Chile in 1973... or Diem in Vietnam in 1963... the overall threat to the PM's government is very real and very determined.
This series has important questions to ask about many aspects of power politics, and the questions apply to every government in the world. Who wields power behind the scenes? How is that power used and abused? Are nations such as England, Germany, and Japan effectively occupied nations that have grown accustomed to the presence of US troops there?
Could the scenario described in the series actually happen? Well, the PM of Australia stepped down in 1975 under heavy pressure from the US via the CIA and Australia's own pro-US president. You betcha this could happen.
Observing the development of events in Iraq in light of this series is very revealing: we can watch as powerful cliques maneuver to get position to control that nation for the foreseeable future. Question: what if the Iraqi PM decided to ask the US troops to leave on July 1? A very Iraqi coup?
I don't mean to pass judgment, but to ask the questions the series gave me. I despised the policies of PM Perkins, but I admired his brand of dirty pool. If you liked "Yes Minister" or "Yes, Prime Minister", you'll really go for this three-hour series.
By the way... when you get to the ending... ask yourself if that's really an ending. Hehehe... Very much like a Philip K. Dick sort of ending.
Movie Review: Frighteningly up to date
Summary: 5 Stars
Picture if you will a Prime Minister of England who really wants to benefit the majority of the people and not only the "fat cats" who have run the country all through its past. Picture how his foes--not only the powerful but those of the middle class in the pockets of the powerful--would stop at nothing to topple him, not even short of murder. Picture also how a certain even more powerful nation would aid and abet in his downfall since while all the rest talk disarmament he actually begins to disarm!If you have trouble picturing all this, then you must watch the Acorn Media release of the first Masterpiece Theatre presentation that did not take place in the British past or present but in the very near future. It is called "A Very British Coup" (AMP-8617) and stars Ray McAnally as Prime Minister Harry Perkins who knows too well what it is like to be poor and oppressed and he is pitted against Sir Percy Browne (Alan MacNaughtan), who is both the head of MI5 and an upper-class militant determined not to enfranchise anyone below him. He feels he owes it to his ancestors; Perkins feels the same about his own.
Add to those two a list of the most frightening behind-the-scenes characters who, although never elected, actually run the government--the press barons, the BBC, the union leaders, even the local constabulary--and you can see how important, let alone how pertinent, this story is to our present situation. There is an audio interview with the author that might be of some value.
Grab this one--and teachers of Political Science, take careful notice.
Movie Review: Dated Yet Timely
Summary: 5 Stars
On first sight A Very British Coup seems impossibly old fashioned, dealing as it does with a left wing British Prime Minister who believes in public ownership, non alignment, and a non-nuclear strategy. He borrows money from the Soviet Union and tells the United States to take its bases out of Britain. As a result right wing elements in Britain, with ample assistance from the US government, do all they can to sabotage his government and force him out of power. So why watch this now, more than ten years after the end of the Cold War, during a British Labour government that sometimes seems more Thatcherite than Maggie herself? Well, first its a dynamic political thriller with tension that lasts right up until the final, rather equivocal moments. Secondly, it asks some difficult questions about the nature of democracy and the relationship of power and privilege. Thirdly, I think for us American viewers it provides an eye-opening look at how the rest of the world sees us, and its not all that flattering. (Most of the American officials look like prize fighters and bully boys, which is what they turn out to be in the end. The Ugly American indeed!)
The DVD version doesn't have many extra features, just some filmographies of the principal stars and an audio interview with the author, Chris Mullin M.P. This seems to have been originally broadcast on radio and is rather scratchy, but you can hear Big Ben in the distance, which is a nice touch. So I recommend this DVD for political junkies, Anglophiles,and any Americans concerned about our international reputation.