It is a real shame that this film has not been released on DVD or even VHS. The remarkable thing about it is that even though it has been aired so few times, its imagery is so immediately fresh in the mind, from the bumbling assassination attempts in a JFK style by Arthur Lowe, to the 'First British Gold Bar' extracted from the north sea.
This film is about manipulation and orchestration from the start to the end !! done with a very dry and British style sense of humour.
The manipulation and 'Spin' of the Political Party Broadcast filming - who could not forget the scene with the rotating countryside backdrop and tread mill - BRILLIANT!! The guile of a Prime Minister who offers the nation the right to decide on every issue -with the piles of paper work such referendums incurred - to the ultimate presidential / dictatorship power gained from the final referendum.
The film as many people have mentioned before may not have a plot, in fact it is more like a documentary at times, but it is wholly unimportant. Its content is a precise satire of the government and issues at the time of production - preceding the change to decimalization - entry into the EU and the discovery of oil in the North sea, the general feeling of social discontent and mistrust in Government that was brewing and what would almost prophetically occur several years later.
One possible reason for its lack of public viewing could be because Peter Cooks brilliant genius cut close to the bone, unashamedly attacking the political processes and media circuses that surround general elections and political manifesto.
Without any doubt if this film was ever released on DVD I would have to buy at least 3 copies.
If there was ever a point in history were spin doctor politics was defined - look no further than this film for it origins.
A monument to Peter Cook and a host of brilliant British comedy actors.
This film is about manipulation and orchestration from the start to the end !! done with a very dry and British style sense of humour.
The manipulation and 'Spin' of the Political Party Broadcast filming - who could not forget the scene with the rotating countryside backdrop and tread mill - BRILLIANT!! The guile of a Prime Minister who offers the nation the right to decide on every issue -with the piles of paper work such referendums incurred - to the ultimate presidential / dictatorship power gained from the final referendum.
The film as many people have mentioned before may not have a plot, in fact it is more like a documentary at times, but it is wholly unimportant. Its content is a precise satire of the government and issues at the time of production - preceding the change to decimalization - entry into the EU and the discovery of oil in the North sea, the general feeling of social discontent and mistrust in Government that was brewing and what would almost prophetically occur several years later.
One possible reason for its lack of public viewing could be because Peter Cooks brilliant genius cut close to the bone, unashamedly attacking the political processes and media circuses that surround general elections and political manifesto.
Without any doubt if this film was ever released on DVD I would have to buy at least 3 copies.
If there was ever a point in history were spin doctor politics was defined - look no further than this film for it origins.
A monument to Peter Cook and a host of brilliant British comedy actors.