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timothy-lewesgibbon
Reviews
Power Play (1978)
Catch it if you can - this is an undervalued movie
Just to correct an error in the details; this same error is repeated in most movie books/websites.
"Power Play" is not based on a novel, but on an academic book: "Coup d'Etat- A Practical Handbook" by the distinguished academic Edward Luttwak; London- Allen Lane The Penguin Press 1968
This book is an entertaining critique of the coup - chiefly in Latin Amerioa and Africa - its practical aspects and the economics of repression and revolution.
This possibly explains why the movie fails to a certain extent as a gripping drama. However the individual performances are excellent.
Nevertheless, it is worth watching.
And after more than 20 years the book rewards a re reading. Incidentally; I last read the book during the coup against Gorbachev in 1991; and applying Edward Luttwak's principles - I judged - rightly as it turned out- that the coup would fail because the promoters of the coup had not secured or neutralised all their objectives. They should have read the book or watched the movie!