A Very British Coup
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Actor: Alan MacNaughton, Geoffrey Beevers, Jim Carter, Keith Allen, Ray McAnallyBrand: Acorn
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 153 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Reviews of A Very British Coup
DVD Review: A Very British Bore
Summary: 2 Stars
"A Very British Coup," a political thriller, was a 1988 Granada production for The United Kingdom's BBC4 Television channel, home of the experimental, the left-wing, and the sexually daring. It's a political drama, concerning itself with the skulduggery surrounding the tenure of Harry Perkins (Ray McAnally) at the vaunted residence of the British Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street. It was based on the novel of the same name by Chris Mullin,(A Very British Coup), a reporter who was eventually elected a Member of Parliament himself, and who, accordingly, should know what he was writing about. Screenplay was by Alan Plater,( The Beiderbecke Tapes);direction by Mick Jackson. It was seen here on the Public Broadcasting System's "Masterpiece Theatre,"won an International Emmy, and three top British TV Awards. It consists of three 50-minute episodes. The movie is badly dated, and was long out of print before Acorn re-released it in August, 2003.
It's a fantasy, written in the waning years of the Prime Ministership of Conservative Margaret Thatcher, about what would happen if a Far Left -wing member of the Labour party, rather than the centrist Tony Blair, who did actually win election, were to win the Prime Ministership. It posits the election of down-to-earth Yorkshireman Harry Perkins, a third-generation Sheffield steelworker, to the highest office in the land. He enjoys quoting the prestigious "London Times," that called him a "simple fool" during the campaign. He comes in with an agenda appropriate to himself: close down United States military bases, break up media monopolies, and dismantle British nuclear weapons. He upsets many of the British and American powerful with this agenda: did I mention that he's anti-American?
You could consider the film the grandchild of the American Frank Capra's famous 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which the naïve Jefferson Smith, so memorably played by Jimmy Stewart, goes to Washington as a young man with an agenda. But it's heavily influenced by the brilliant British Boulting Brothers 1959 comedy I'm All Right Jack, in which Fred Kite,Communist-oriented union leader/shop steward, as unforgettably played by Peter Sellers, enjoys nothing more than a chance to shut down the factory. It certainly is the direct progenitor of House of Cards Trilogy (House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut); another more successful British political drama, starring Ian Richardson, which closely followed it. And I guess you'd have to say it's the grand-dad of Sally Wainwright's meretricious 2006 fantasy, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard,in which Jane Horrocks, as Ros Pritchard, Midlands supermarket manager, gets herself elected Prime Minister. Except, whereas the Perkins character has spent a lifetime in politics, has submitted himself to the discipline of his party, works himself up to high office, and has an agenda, the Pritchard character is a newbie to politics, without education in it, background, or her own agenda.
The Irish McAnally's performance in the lead role is towering, and hits all the right notes. It's one of three great performances he delivered shortly before his 1990 death: Peter Egan's conman father in the TV movie John Le Carre's A Perfect Spy; and the indomitable father to the Irish Christy Brown character (as played by an Oscar-winning Daniel Day Lewis) in My Left Foot. He's surrounded by supporting actors who are able enough, some familiar faces, but none really well-known. He is, in fact, the only reason to see this movie, which is the very model of an all-talk no action film--the first, introductory episode literally put me to sleep. You will spot a woman's face about once every 15 minutes, if you care about that kind of thing, and I do. And, what would be a finishing, disastrous touch for many, in a movie that's all talk, there are no subtitles. Sorry folks, but, unless you are a big fan of the talking heads on CSpan, this is very much "A Very British Bore."
Description of A Very British Coup
A VERY BRITISH COUPThe taut, powerful, all-too-plausible story about a democracy attacked from within When plain-spoken, charismatic former steelworker Harry Perkins becomes prime minister in a landslide Labour Party victory, his socialist agenda horrifies the entrenched ruling class and the right-wing media. As Perkins presses ahead with plans to close down U.S. military bases, break up newspaper monopolies and dismantle British nuclear weapons, the establishment and its American allies conspire in a brutal back-room struggle to regain control. Starring Ray McAnally (A Perfect Spy, My Left Foot), this PBS Masterpiece Theatre miniseries won an International Emmy Award, three top British television awards and the Banff Television Festival grand prize.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE
? interview with author Chris Mullin
? full-color insert with character glossary
? cast and crew filmographies
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