La main du pouvoir

THE INTERNECINE PROJECT is an intriguing little thriller made as a collaboration between the UK and West Germany. It's one of those films that nobody mentions anymore, but which provides a few surprises and nice elements for film fans. The unusual plot itself is a highlight, as this is a film which explores the meaning of the word 'internecine' (mutually destructive, as it happens).

James Coburn plays an anti-hero, a politician with more than a few skeletons in his closet. In order to tie off some loose ends, he sets a plot in action to kill off people who know a little too much about him. The thrills come from seeing said plot play out, and wondering whether he'll succeed or not.

The spy elements of the storyline give this some decent, Cold War-era paranoia shudders. The cast is very well picked; even Lee Grant is an asset, although her character - a feminist journalist - is extraneous to the storyline, although she does have a jaw-dropping encounter with the chauvinistic Coburn. Harry Andrews continues to delight in his later years, Ian Hendry is memorably twitchy, and the likes of Julian Glover and Keenan Wynn prop up the cast. There's little to dislike and much to enjoy about this thought-provoking thriller.

This largely forgotten film from the darkest days of the British film industry probably deserves to be better known, if only for the fact that it manages to make a long sequence in which one man sits alone in a room waiting for the phone to ring quite suspenseful.

James Coburn plays Robert Elliott, a former secret agent who must erase all evidence of his dirty past before taking a job as adviser to the US president. That past comes in the form of four former colleagues – nervy diabetic Ian Hendry, misogynistic cat-lover Harry Andrews, scientist Michael Jayston and call-girl Christiane Kruger. Eliot hits upon the ingenious idea of getting each of his intended victims to do the deed for him, leaving him completely unconnected to the murders. It's a fairly unique idea, and quite well-handled with some quirky characters thrown in (not of least of which is Harry 'A *woman*, Sir?' Andrews), and it is to writer Barry Levinson's credit that he manages to stretch what is a fairly thin plot over a reasonable running time without losing the viewer's interest.

The ending belongs in a James Bond movie – although given the recent murder of a dissident Russian journalist, maybe that's not quite true – but it is a delicious pay-off and a fitting fate for an urbane character who is totally lacking in scruples.

James Coburn is a slick white collar heavy in this twisty thriller, scripted by future directors Barry Levinson ("Rain Man"), who also produced, and Jonathan Lynn ("Clue"). Coburn again projects incredible cool as Robert Elliot, a "professor" who has a major opportunity for advancement in the government. The catch is, he can't afford to have anybody alive who's got knowledge of his past. There are four of these people, and Elliot arranges for all of them to kill each other over the course of a single night. Despite his intricate planning, things don't always go that smoothly.

The excellent cast is the major draw of this film, capably directed by Ken Hughes ("Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"). It's very well paced and sometimes reasonably suspenseful, with a story that might not stand up to a lot of scrutiny, but does solidly entertain for its duration. Another asset is the eclectic soundtrack composed by Roy Budd ("Get Carter" '71).

Coburn is fun to watch in the role of an anti-hero, a man who initially is taken aback at the idea of eliminating these skeletons in his closet, but quickly makes up his mind to be cold-blooded about the whole affair. Lee Grant is fine (and looks very nice, to boot) as the aggressive, feminist journalist with whom he was once involved. Ian Hendry is wonderfully antsy as the diabetic Alex, Christiane Kruger is delectably sexy as Christina, Julian Glover has a good, brief role as a TV host, and Keenan Wynn is endlessly amusing as usual as tycoon E.J. Farnsworth. But the shining star of the production is Harry Andrews as a masseur named Bert Parsons. The character is an angry misogynist, and the viewer may be intrigued and wonder just how this character came to be this way.

Overall, good entertainment. Nothing special, but there are much worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

Seven out of 10.

Although not a blockbuster, "The Internecine Project" is an outstanding European political thriller from 1973 that has deserved much more attention from critics and movie buffs! Directed by Ken Hughes ("Casino Royale"), this British-German co-production tells the intrigues of corrupt London scientist and former secret agent Robert Elliot who is about to become the personal consultant of the American president. The only problem are four witnesses of his corrupt and dirty past who could break his career, so Elliot has to get rid of them one by one...

Now that's where the big plan starts - Elliot directs the assassination of all four people - a politician, a scientist, a call-girl and a women-hating psychopath - by sending all of them out to kill another one of them in one night while he controls every single action by phone in his office. This all happens in the second half of the movie and causes a nail-biting suspense and hardcore thrill that leads to the very surprising bitter ending...

The direction is great and the dark, and the disturbing settings (the plot mostly takes place at night and in dark rooms) adds much atmosphere to this great thriller. Roy Budd's menacing, "psychological" score with elements of spy music, blaxploitation funk, ethnic sounds and dark cool jazz like his "Get Carter" success is brilliant and don't need to hide behind the seventies' works of Ennio Morricone, Lalo Schifrin or Jerry Goldsmith. The cast is superb as well, with James Coburn as devilish Professor Elliot and a very good supporting cast of Lee Grant, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Keenan Wynne and young German actress Christiane Krueger.

If you ever have the occasion to watch this breath-taking thriller don't hesitate, sit down on your couch and take a ride! The film has also been released as "The Black Panther" and with the very simple title "G" in Germany.

Ingenious British-made corporate thriller with an impressive cast well-versed in this sort of thing – James Coburn, Keenan Wynn, Ian Hendry, Michael Jayston and Harry Andrews; Lee Grant provides both a feminist viewpoint and a romantic partner for Coburn. The plot involves Coburn’s rise in the political stakes, abetted by ruthless bigwig Wynn; however, he needs to put his shady past behind him and, to this end, organizes an intricate scheme by which his four former associates will eliminate one another on the same night!

Those expecting action, comedy, sex and colorful scenery a' la Coburn’s “Flint” pictures will be sorely disappointed by this low-key, intelligent but humorless character-driven piece – filmed against drab European settings (albeit by the great Geoffrey Unsworth); composer Roy Budd, another genre fixture, delivers an appropriately moody score. Still, the murder sequences themselves (with Coburn bemusedly ticking away each carefully-timed step of his plan) – particularly Andrews’ vicious shower murder of the Christiane Kruger character and the hesitation at carrying out his part of the bargain by the typically angst-ridden Hendry – generate the requisite amount of suspense during the film’s second half.

While Grant’s reporter character seems an intrusion at first, her presence (or, rather, Coburn’s callous mistreatment of her) eventually threatens to jeopardize his ‘mission’ – on finally getting wise to his machinations, she’s willing to suppress her affections and expose him for what he is! The film, however, provides a delicious twist ending, which sees the over-confident Coburn getting his come-uppance – even if the audience is clearly rooting for him – at his moment of glory (by the person he least expected it from)!

Regrettably, this is only available via a reportedly substandard pan-and-scan R2 DVD; then again, I did watch it in this aspect ratio myself – and dubbed in Italian to boot!