Where does one start with a movie like this? Alexis Kanner put together a story, locations and a cast that included the ex-First lady of Canada and Patrick McGoohan. Not content with this he then used some highly stylised sound-mixing techniques combined with unusual camera angles that can be quite disconcerting.
McGoohan was reportedly personally seduced into this movie by his protégé from the TV series 'The Prisoner'. Margaret Trudeau makes one of her few film acting appearances as McGoohan's wife. Kanner had evidently put huge efforts into creating what became, due to his untimely death, something of a life's filmic Opus.
We are introduced to McGoohan as a hugely successful, but jaded and dissolute, radio phone-in host. He evidently is convinced he has 'sold his soul' to the radio station, especially as he has also married the station-owners daughter. His cynicism is evident when he is 'picked up' by Andrea Marcovici, who bears a curious resemblance to his wife. He is then taken prisoner in his studio and joined by Kanner who has become obsessed with gaining the freedom of a friend unfairly jailed. At the same time the judge responsible for that jailing has been kidnapped as a secondary hostage. Kanner uses McGoohan's radio show as a method of publicising the unfairness of the case.
This basic story is inter-cut with dramatic scenes of SAS-style troops surrounding the studio building and panoramic scenes of a snow-bound Canadian city. Kanner must have put huge efforts into the choreography of all these peripheral events. The judge is taken to a remote cabin where he dies of a stress-induced heart attack. When this event is realised McGoohan loses his 'sophisticated cool' and attempts to strangle Kanner, furious at the unnecessary death. He is prevented from doing so by the evidently psychopathic beauty, Markovici.
McGoohan's own family are held hostage but he appears curiously unmoved about it. I am torn as to whether this is because he feels his behaviour towards them means he has no right to grieve or whether he steadfastly refuses to be held hostage by his captors in any sense other than the physical. Trudeau has her own sub-plot battling against the two terrorists. One is plainly wacko whilst the other quickly comes to regret imprisoning Trudeau and her slightly autistic child. Ultimately they are set free by him. As a consequence he is clubbed to death with a telephone by his partner, in a grisly scene.
Kanner took a lot on in the making of this film, possibly too much. However I feel the fundamental weakness that he never addresses, perhaps because of the huge task he set himself, is that the fictional case he and his colleagues were seeking to protest was simply not a strong enough one. It was difficult to see why eight people could become so angry about what was basically a traffic accident. As this forms the crux of the motivation for the whole story it creates a widening hole in the plot credibility as the film progresses. Accepting that and ignoring it still leaves a lot to be enjoyed. Kanner has one superb moment where the 'SAS' troops have become bored and one puts his face-mask on backwards and capers about. The Police chief is well played but the radio-station owner is not so convincing. It would have been nice to have had more of the verbal sparring in the confines of the studio but Kanner evidently had to sacrifice that to allow for the Police Station scenes and the more action-driven SAS sequences to take place.
McGoohan's personal friendship with Kanner is evidenced by McGoohan's permitting old Danger Man pictures of him to be used as scenery, plus the use of several evident in-jokes. Their shared-line rendition of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' has all the hallmarks of something they knocked up between them in a scripting session. As is his habit, McGoohan raises the neck-hairs on a couple of occasions. One such moment is when he grabs the shotgun in the hands of Markovici, pulling it to his chest, challenging her to pull the trigger, all without speaking a word.
The film was originally released in 1978, I think, in Canada and some of the US but did not reach Britain until the Eighties with Kanner having to do much of the publicity work himself, three years after making the movie!
McGoohan was reportedly personally seduced into this movie by his protégé from the TV series 'The Prisoner'. Margaret Trudeau makes one of her few film acting appearances as McGoohan's wife. Kanner had evidently put huge efforts into creating what became, due to his untimely death, something of a life's filmic Opus.
We are introduced to McGoohan as a hugely successful, but jaded and dissolute, radio phone-in host. He evidently is convinced he has 'sold his soul' to the radio station, especially as he has also married the station-owners daughter. His cynicism is evident when he is 'picked up' by Andrea Marcovici, who bears a curious resemblance to his wife. He is then taken prisoner in his studio and joined by Kanner who has become obsessed with gaining the freedom of a friend unfairly jailed. At the same time the judge responsible for that jailing has been kidnapped as a secondary hostage. Kanner uses McGoohan's radio show as a method of publicising the unfairness of the case.
This basic story is inter-cut with dramatic scenes of SAS-style troops surrounding the studio building and panoramic scenes of a snow-bound Canadian city. Kanner must have put huge efforts into the choreography of all these peripheral events. The judge is taken to a remote cabin where he dies of a stress-induced heart attack. When this event is realised McGoohan loses his 'sophisticated cool' and attempts to strangle Kanner, furious at the unnecessary death. He is prevented from doing so by the evidently psychopathic beauty, Markovici.
McGoohan's own family are held hostage but he appears curiously unmoved about it. I am torn as to whether this is because he feels his behaviour towards them means he has no right to grieve or whether he steadfastly refuses to be held hostage by his captors in any sense other than the physical. Trudeau has her own sub-plot battling against the two terrorists. One is plainly wacko whilst the other quickly comes to regret imprisoning Trudeau and her slightly autistic child. Ultimately they are set free by him. As a consequence he is clubbed to death with a telephone by his partner, in a grisly scene.
Kanner took a lot on in the making of this film, possibly too much. However I feel the fundamental weakness that he never addresses, perhaps because of the huge task he set himself, is that the fictional case he and his colleagues were seeking to protest was simply not a strong enough one. It was difficult to see why eight people could become so angry about what was basically a traffic accident. As this forms the crux of the motivation for the whole story it creates a widening hole in the plot credibility as the film progresses. Accepting that and ignoring it still leaves a lot to be enjoyed. Kanner has one superb moment where the 'SAS' troops have become bored and one puts his face-mask on backwards and capers about. The Police chief is well played but the radio-station owner is not so convincing. It would have been nice to have had more of the verbal sparring in the confines of the studio but Kanner evidently had to sacrifice that to allow for the Police Station scenes and the more action-driven SAS sequences to take place.
McGoohan's personal friendship with Kanner is evidenced by McGoohan's permitting old Danger Man pictures of him to be used as scenery, plus the use of several evident in-jokes. Their shared-line rendition of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' has all the hallmarks of something they knocked up between them in a scripting session. As is his habit, McGoohan raises the neck-hairs on a couple of occasions. One such moment is when he grabs the shotgun in the hands of Markovici, pulling it to his chest, challenging her to pull the trigger, all without speaking a word.
The film was originally released in 1978, I think, in Canada and some of the US but did not reach Britain until the Eighties with Kanner having to do much of the publicity work himself, three years after making the movie!