By Lee Pfeiffer
A truly under-appreciated and little-seen gem, Power Play has recently been released on DVD through the Scorpion label. Like other niche market titles that have been surfacing in droves, this one has so much to recommend about it that it seems almost criminal so few movie fans have seen the movie. The 1978 thriller takes place in an unnamed central European country where the repressive government is employing increasingly harsh crackdowns on the general population and utilizing torture against dissidents. Fearing the breakout of civil war, Dr. Jean Rousseau (Barry Morse), an intellectual with ties to the military, persuades key army officers to plan a coup. They are led by Col. Anthony Narriman (David Hemmings, who co-produced the film), a rather pacifist soldier who reluctantly agrees to head the plot in order to save the nation he loves. The tight-knit group carefully approaches other officers they suspect may be in sympathy. Among them is a wild card: tank commander Colonel Zeller (Peter O'Toole), a flamboyant and egotistical man whose forces are essential to the operation.As the plotting proceeds, the story becomes quite suspenseful as the group deals with an almost paranoid obsession that their activities are being uncovered by Blair (Donald Pleasence), a murderous government bureaucrat who will stop at nothing to preserve the status quo.
The film is obviously inspired by other movies centered on military coups, such as Costa-Gavras' Z and John Frankenheimer's Seven Days in May. While Power Play never rises to their level, the film has much to recommend about it. Writer/director Martyn Burke based the story on his own experiences as a journalist in war-torn environments, including Vietnam. The script rings with realism: there are no over-the-top heroics and the protagonists are filled with self-doubts and mutual suspicions about their fellow plotters. The movie stays apolitical in the sense that it doesn't swing left or right, but a sequence in which Pleaseance utilizes water-boarding might make those who advocate the practice think twice about whether it doesn't constitute torture.
The performances are truly outstanding, with Hemmings thriving in a sympathetic (and rare) leading role. O'Toole is mesmerizing and uncharacteristically underplays his character. Pleasence adds his usual professional touch as the villain of the piece, and Morse is particularly impressive as the man who initiates the audacious plot only to fear the consequences may be worse than he had envisioned. Even the supporting actors, largely unknown, are exceptionally good. The film was shot on location in Canada and Germany and Burke makes good use of the settings. The film boasts relatively lavish production values; the battle scenes are well-populated and employ a wealth of military hardware and vehicles, giving the movie a fairly big budget look.Â
The DVD has some interesting extras including an audio commentary and new interview with Martyn Burke, who is refreshingly candid in his disgust with the way the film was marketed and retitled from Coup D'Etat (the name of the book upon which it is based). Burke also provides some sentimental, but distressing details about the decline of David Hemmings' career, which was due to his over-indulgence in alcohol. There is also an interview with actor George Talioutas, who is extraordinarily good in the film as an unstable general. An original trailer is also included. Power Play may suffer from an uninspired title, but it remains one of the most intelligent and suspenseful political thrillers of its era.
(Trivia note: Alain Delon is listed as a producer of the film by some sources, though he does not receive a screen credit)
Click here to order from Amazon. This is an "all region" DVD that can play on any international DVD system.