Power Play (1978 film)


Power Play is a 1978 British-Canadian thriller film starring Peter O'Toole and David Hemmings, based on the non-fiction strategy book by Edward N. Luttwak.
The film was also known as Coup d'Etat.

Plot

A small group of military officers frustrated by the corruption 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.
An idealistic military officer becomes sickened by the government's use of extra--judicial killing and torture to suppress the terrorism that their incompetence and corruption has fostered. He decides that for the good of the country he must attempt to overthrow the regime and end the chaos. Worried only about infiltration by agents of the hated internal security chief, who knows he can expect no mercy, the colonel leads the plot to success, but realises too late that he overlooked the danger of a clique within his coup's own forces, and finds himself facing a firing squad along with those he has deposed.

Cast

A UK-Canada co-production filmed in Canada and West Germany, Power Play includes scenes shot at the University of Toronto's University College quadrangle and hallways. Portions were also filmed at Canadian Forces Base Borden, and at Canadian Forces Base Toronto in Downsview.
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.

Reception

The film won Best Screenplay at the Canadian Film Awards.