A Very British Coup

Rating:
Summary: Glad To See It On DVD
Review: "A Very British Coup" is a fine example of a left-wing fantasy.

This particular fantasy reminds me of nothing so much as the Canadian Broadcasting Company documentary about Enver Hoxa's Albania that was broadcast in the late 1980s. The conclusion of the CBC piece was that the happy, unspoiled Albanians were delighted with their dignified and pure lives, and their blessed freedom from the follies of both West and East. Alas for the CBC documentary, within a month of its airing the happy Albanians were busy battering their way past Italian border guards on their way to wallowing in as many Western follies and excesses as they could grab.

And so it is here. In this piece, a Labour Party PM achieves power. He immediately institutes a socialist agenda and kicks the US military out of Britain. All the while, he is supported by the limitless financial resources of the Soviet Union. (Score it 0 for prophecy!)

The program also shows virtually every leader of the Conservative Party as a thug at heart and without qualms about conspiring against virtuous lefty Prime Ministers, even unto [...]. But there is no need to fear, for we are shown that the Tories are all paper tigers who can be overcome with a wave of the Beloved Leader's Benevolent Hand.

Gimme a break! This is for (bitter) laughs only.

Rating:
Summary: C'mon, people, get a grip here!
Review: "A Very British Coup" is a fine example of a left-wing fantasy.

It reminds me of nothing so much as the documentary about Enver Hoxa's Albania that was broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Company in the late 1980s. The conclusion of the CBC piece was that the happy Albanians were delighted with their dignified and unspoiled lives, blessedly free from the follies of either West or East. Alas, the problem with the CBC documentary was that within a month of its airing the happy Albanians were busy beating their way past Italian border guards trying to prevent their mad dash toward Western follies and excesses.

And so it is here. In this piece a Labour Party PM achieves power, immediately begins to institute a socialist agenda, kicks the US military out of Britain, and is all the while supported by the limitless financial resources of the Soviet Union. (Score it 0 for prophecy!) The program also shows virtually every leader of the Conservative Party as a thug at heart and without qualms about conspiring against virtuous lefties, even unto assassination. But there is no need to fear, for we are shown that the Cons are all paper tigers who can be overcome with a wave of the Beloved Leader's Benevolent Hand.

Gimme a break! This is for (bitter) laughs only.

Rating:
Summary: A Very British Coup: Nobody does it better
Review: "A man who is weary of Mozart is weary of life," says Harry Perkins, the newly elected and charismatic Prime Minister from the Labor Party. Set in Britain some time in the future, "A Very British Coup" is a brilliantly conceived, directed and acted film which I first saw about 10 years ago on a New York PBC station, and now twice recently on a low definition quality tape I had made. The drama is fast-paced and almost operatic in its depiction of a statesman whose honesty and forthrightness threaten to overturn the entire monolith of the old-boy network so imbedded in the British political system. The predominantly privileged, aristocratic class of civil servants and their ally, a media giant attempt to undermine Harry's "open" administration by all the means available and these means are extensive. When their methods are only partially successful, because they underestimate Harry's indomitable consistency, his strength of character, they resort to more sinister solutions. Determined to remove all nuclear warheads and thus infuriating the U.S. Harry decides to have the dismantling of a nuclear warhead televised. For his adveraries, this is the final draw. They devise a plan that will devastate Harry's effectiveness and credibility with the millions of people who supported him. This drama moves at the breathtaking pace of a good, literate thriller. If you are looking for substance both in story and character, "A Very British Coup" is the film for you. Ray McAnally, aka Harry Perkins would never have been hired by Hollywood to play a hero. He's a chunky man with nondescript features. But from the very beginning of this story as you watch Harry lathering his face with an old fashioned brush and mug, which is his only legacy from his coal-mining father, you are struck by his energy and palpable humanity. As the story unfolds, it is his complex and unflappable personality that exudes sex appeal. Mozart's music, in particular the Mass in C Minor with its passion and exuberance works like a superb Greek chorus. Throughout the drama McAnally projects a robust, penetrating intelligence. Moreover, as he confronts the various machinations of his opponents, he demonstrates that to be an idealist one must also have knowledge.

There is much more that I could say about Harry Perkins. His is a complex character with heroic proportions. All the supporting actors are first rate, in particular Alan McNaughton who plays Perkins' principal antagonist. For me, "A Very British Coup" represents what is best about British Film and drama; namely, that capacity to transcend a particular place and time and personal bias, that skill at characterizing individuals and individual situations so as to make them universal and timeless. And in the case of "A Very British Coup" it will make you hungry where you are most satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best political intrigue video ever made.
Review: I first saw this video on public television about 10 years ago - I was amazed. I still find it exciting and flawless even though true socialistic ideology is outdated. I liked it so much that I actually paid [the money] for the 3 part video (two cassettes) when it was first released.
I've also read the book by Chris Mullin but found the video to be superior; Harry Perkins is a more witty and affable character.
A correction to the previous review by Mr. Daley: Ray McAnally WAS cast in at least two Hollywood movies; One of them being "My Left Foot" with Daniel Day Lewis. Ray McAnally was an excellent actor, just starting to reach a peak in his career. I was sorry to hear that he died.

Rating:
Summary: "Yes, Minister" with Brass Knuckles
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Dull and Mindless
Review: If you think the world would be a better place if Joseph Stalin was still around you might like this film, otherwise you should skip seeing it. The characters are cardboard cliches. The plot is silly. To extend the running time to three hours the film is filled with meaningless cuts of military jet landing that have nothing to do with the story. "A Very British Coup" has none of the wit, intelligence and charm of "House of Cards".

Rating:
Summary: Self-indulgent lefty excrement
Review: Imagine if you will a world in which the public starves for more simple-minded leftist slogans, yearns for a "man of the people" to take power and rescue them from their troubles, while the devious right wing plans an elite coup against the noble lefty to prevent him from truly benefiting the nation.

If you still have your supper in you after that description, then this is the movie for you. It will flatter all your prejudices, lift up your pettiest bigotries to the status of virtue, and it will not once force you to swallow a hard truth. This is pablum, pure and simple, and if you like it because it strokes your political views then you have abandoned artistic aims for those of the lowest political propaganda.

For propaganda is what this is, without a shade of subtlety or nuance. Harry Perkins is a paragon throughout, a man so well-intentioned he seems to have been deposited on this planet something in the manner of Mr. Bean, although perhaps minus the pratfall. His enemies do not possess a shred of decency--well, what enemy of such a sterling leftist could?--etc. etc. etc. You can practically write this drivel in your sleep. For die-hards only.

Rating:
Summary: It happened.
Review: Labor Party candidate gets elected Prime Minister of Great Britain. Starts actually carrying through on his campaign promises (novel idea, huh) - i.e. - tells the U.S. to remove bases from England, dismantles nuclear power plants, nationalizes major industries . . .

The capitalists and aristocrats (same diff) figure out they have a problem and decide to overthrow the newly elected government. So they hatch a secret plot to undermine the new PM.

The best one-liners:

"I tried middle of the road once - got hit by traffic going in both directions."

and

"Old mother Hubbard went to the cubbard and discovered there was nothing left to privatize. And all the moneylenders and the bankers from fifth rate public schools looked out across the patient tribes of the hungry and dispossesed - and do you you know what they heard? THIS IS YOUR TURN TO BURN IN HELL - GOTCHA!"

and finally

"If it is foolish and simpleminded to think that it is better to spend money on better schools and food for our kids rather than building bigger and more destructive bombs, then very well - I am simpleminded and foolish. And I would like to thank the tens of millions of other simple minded fools who by their vote have given this government the mandate to continue on."

Rating:
Summary: Dated Yet Timely
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Frighteningly up to date
Review: 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.