A Very British Coup
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.95 You Save: $22.04 (73%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.67 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of A Very British Coup
Movie Review: Perhaps not so dated after all?
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this 3 years ago, but it wasn't until today that I made time to sit down and watch it. I saw it originally when it aired in the US back in the late 80s, and only vaguely remembered that I thought it was very impressive, and that the end was, for some reason I couldn't remember, very disturbing.
Although there are many comments that "A Very British Coup" is excellent, but dated, I find that events of the past few years, and the corresponding drop in international opinion of the US and its policies makes it very relevant today. Yes, it's very much situated at the end of the Cold War, but little seems to have changed.
And, after having seen it again, now I know why I found the end so very disturbing. It's somewhat ambiguous (wonderfully so), and I almost overlooked it completely. Only once the credits started to roll did I comprehend what my eyes and ears had seen, and how the story truly ended. Thank goodness for "rewind"!!
Movie Review: The Best of the Best Political Thrillers EVER ON TV!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the very best of the best of political thrillers on television. I saw it back when it first was on PBS years and years ago. I am thrilled it is now available on DVD. I always hoped it would show again on PBS and was disappointed that it did not win the viewers' favorite they had on television last year. Perhaps that was because they only voted on Masterpiece Theatre? But I thought this was on Masterpiece Theatre. Then again, it could have shown on Mystery. Anyway, it is fantastic and those who don't enjoy it show that they are hopelessly right-wing and therefore contemptible.Movie Review: Great political conspiracy film
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't be put off by the British setting. It is not difficult at all to translate into American the behind-the-scenes machinations of politicians, media tycoons, foreign intellegence services, and unions as they attempt to destabilze the democratically elected government of Harry Perkins. Add a star if you beleive in the existence of a vast right-wing conspiracy. I enjoy this movie so much that I recently replaced my missing VHS tape with a DVD.Movie Review: An unsettling dramatic thriler
Summary: 5 Stars
This film convincingly depicts the challenges facing a (fictional) Socialist Prime Minister of England. It gives a painfully candid view of the cost of integrity and idealism, and a frightening glimpse of the limits of democratic power.
Movie Review: A working class hero is something to be.
Summary: 4 Stars
As another reviewer has stated this drama is a little dated but to me it is a fascinating look at the machinations of British government dressed up as a drama for public consumption.
I came upon this DVD by accident recently and recognised the original author as being the current Labour MP for the Sunderland South constituency in the North East of England, Chris Mullin. Although I have never met this man, by reputation he was once a man of the hard left championing unpopular causes such as the appeal of alleged IRA prisoners for a bombing on mainland Britain whom he believed were convicted wrongly. He was also a minister for a while in one of Blair's governments who returned to the backbenches to maintain his independent stance on a number of issues. A soft spoken man, he appears as a thoughtful mild mannered but hard hitting man when he asks questions at Prime Ministers Question Time.
And therein lies the rub. As a drama with the Alan Plater script this show has a number of faults, the repetitious use of the only talk show interviewer and the exact same backroom people producing the show each time, some of the characters being a little wooden but a journeyman production nevertheless.
As an insider's look at the British government machine this is a treasure trove indeed. Watched in conjunction with the MI-5 seasons (known as Spooks in Britain), a good picture from a couple of perspectives, of the governmental machine emerges.
The central character resembles uncannily, a former MP in a Coventry constituency, Dave Nellist, and the setting of a hard left Labour victory was considered a possiblity in the 1980's after the election of Margaret Thatcher. It seems too that if permission was not given to film in the rooms of Number 10 Downing Street, then the researchers were given very good acccess and reproduced the inside almost exactly as you see when the characters ascend the stairs where the black and white portraits of previous Prime Ministers hang. The incumbent's photograph is only hung up upon their leaving office.
Much of this mini-series is accurate and true to life, such as as the new Prime Minister's life being almost taken over by the very polite, civil servants, shown to have their own agenda's and not being the impartial technicians pace Keynes. I was very pleased to see scenes set at Chequers, the country retreat or somewhere very similar to it. The machinations of the government and the almost required plotiing and scheming takes place mostly outside of the Houses of Parliament which really does not enter the equation.
All in all this show reflects a more socialistic view of how government works in practice in Britain. There is a strong current of Anti-Americanism throughout which in my view is not shared by the majority of people in Britain but which accurately reflects the inherent hostility of socialists towards America.
While some parts are deliberately extreme there is a clear understanding of the degree of sophistication which is the hallmark of the operations of the British establishment. Clearly influenced by the reins of power the new hardline Prime Minister ends up in the ministerial car and ends up in the Cabinet Room alone much as Margaret Thatcher ended her days there.
This is the British equivalent of the West Wing packed into three hours. I was so impressed I bought a copy. It should be reuired viewing for students of British politics everywhere and from my point of view it just goes to show that Friedrich Hayek was right when he advised Anthony Fisher who formed the Institute of Economic Affairs, not to go into politics.
An excellent insider view.