''Power Play'' (also known as ''Coup d'Etat'', ''A State of Shock'' and ''Operation Overthrow'') is a 1978 British-Canadian

political thriller A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle; high stakes and suspense are the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. Th ...

film directed by Martyn Burke and starring

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...

and

David Hemmings David Leslie Edward Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor, director, and producer of film and television. Originally trained as a boy soprano in operatic roles, he began appearing in films as a child actor in the ...

. It was written by Burke and Edward N. Luttwak based on the latter's 1968 non-fiction strategy book '' Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook''.

Plot

A small group of military officers frustrated by the corruption and brutality of a fictional contemporary European government decide that they must overthrow the current administration. But the coup's leader worries that there is a spy in their group. Colonel Narriman, an idealistic and soon-to-retire army officer, becomes sickened by the government's use of extra-judicial killing and torture to suppress the terrorist insurgency that their incompetence and corruption has fostered. Jean Rousseau persuades him that, instead of retiring, he should attempt to overthrow the regime for the good of the country. Worried about infiltration by agents of the hated internal security chief Blair, he emphasises

operational security Operations security (OPSEC) is a process that identifies critical information to determine whether friendly actions can be observed by enemy intelligence, determines if information obtained by adversaries could be interpreted to be useful to th ...

, as he knows he can expect no mercy if caught, while he builds the coup one important recruit at a time. A key such person is Colonel Zeller, whose armoured brigade is seen as vital for capturing the capital city quickly. The final part of the film is the actual conduct of the coup attempt with exciting twists and surprises.

Cast

as Colonel Zeller *

as Colonel Narriman *

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career. Pleas ...

as Blair *

Barry Morse Herbert "Barry" Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008) was a British-Canadian actor, writer, and director. He was known for playing Lt. Philip Gerard, the principal antagonist of the American television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–67), as ...

as Jean Rousseau * George Touliatos as Barrientos *

Harvey Atkin Elliot Harvey Atkin (18 December 1942 – 18 July 2017) was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his roles as Morty Melnick in ''Meatballs'', Sergeant Ronald Coleman in '' Cagney & Lacey'', and for voicing King Koopa in '' The Super Mario Bro ...

as Anwar *

August Schellenberg August Werner Schellenberg (July 25, 1936 – August 15, 2013) was a Canadian actor. He played Randolph in the first three installments of the ''Free Willy'' film series (1993–1997) as well as characters in '' Black Robe'' (1991), '' The New Wo ...

as Minh * Chuck Shamata as Hillsman *

Alberta Watson Faith Susan Alberta Watson (March 6, 1955 – March 21, 2015), better known as Alberta Watson, was a Canadian film and television actress. Early life Watson was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1955.Rita Zekas. , Toronto Star, August 5, 1994. She gr ...

as Donna

Production

The UK-Canada co-production was filmed in Canada and West Germany. ''Power Play'' includes scenes shot at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

quadrangle and hallways. Portions were also filmed at

CFB Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Camp Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Forc ...

CFB Toronto Canadian Forces Base Toronto (also CFB Toronto) is a former Canadian Forces base that operated at the site of Downsview Airport in Toronto, Ontario. The airfield is currently referred to as the 'YZD district' for residential and commercial redev ...

and

CFB Lahr Canadian Forces Base Lahr (International Air Transport Association airport code, IATA:LHA, International Civil Aviation Organization airport code, ICAO: EDTL, former code EDAN) was a military operated commercial airport located in Lahr, Germany. ...

in West Germany, using elements of the

4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (4CMBG; ) was a formation of the Canadian Army, then Canadian Forces Land Force Command, Mobile Command of the unified Canadian Forces. It was part of the European formation known as Canadian Forces Europe. T ...

. The

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

also provided aircraft, armoured fighting vehicles (including

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

tanks), and soldiers for the filming. The different marks of Centurion tanks reflected the fact that filming occurred both in Canada and in West Germany. The flag of the film's unnamed republic, "a generic country with no specific geography or culture", was green, yellow and black. It was one of the first films financed under Canadian tax concessions.

Release

It was released on DVD in 2005 by New Star Video under the title ''A State of Shock''.

Reception

The film won the Best Screenplay award at the Canadian Film Awards.

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Power Play (1978 film) 1978 films Films based on non-fiction books Canadian political thriller films British political thriller films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Martyn Burke Films about rebellions Films about coups d'état 1970s political thriller films Films with screenplays by Martyn Burke Films set in Europe Films scored by Ken Thorne 1970s English-language films Films shot in Toronto Films shot in Germany 1970s Canadian films 1970s British films English-language thriller films