Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Detailing how the government of UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dealt with the Falkland Islands War of 1982, The Falklands Play has a long history. One of the most controversial productions ever commissioned by the BBC, The Falklands Play was unproduced for nearly two decades when it was finally aired on BBC Four in 2002. Originally unproduced due to being deemed to be too pro-Thatcher and jingoistic in its tone, The Falklands Play is an intriguing example of historical drama and the controversy it can cause.The film certainly has a fine cast. Patricia Hodge excels as Thatcher or at the very least playing the Thatcher portrayed in the script. Hodge's Thatcher is a strong willed woman who refuses to back down under any circumstances. The supporting cast includes strong performances from James Fox as Foreign Secretary Lord Peter Carrington, Clive Merrison as Defence Minister John Nott, Colin Stinton as US Secretary of State Alexander Haig, John Woodvine as Admiral Sir Terence Lewin and Tom Chadbon as Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse. Each of their performances, and those of much of the rest of the cast, gives the film a strength that it needs.The production values of The Falklands Play are strong as well. Melanie Allen's production design captures the real life settings of the film including an excellently done set of the House of Commons. The film's cinematography is exceptional as well with its cinema verite approach. The result is that the film is given a strong documentary feel to the entire film, giving the viewer the sense of watching history unfolding before them. The film also makes strong use of documentary footage from the time as well, mixing it skillfully into the drama. Like the performances, these elements give the film a strength that it needs.The script by Ian Curteis is at the heart of the film. The script after all was the single most controversial aspect of the production for almost twenty years. Back in the 1980s, the BBC deemed the script to be too pro-Thatcher and jingoistic in its tone. Looking at the film itself, it is very easy to see how that came about. The strong willed portrayal of Thatcher and her handling of her the situation is certainly pro-Thatcher. Also the film's portrayal of the decisions leading to the sinking of the Argentinian warship the General Belgrano, one of the most controversial events of the war, can certainly be seen to be pro-Thatcher. Surprisingly, the script used in the film isn't even the one originally written in the 1980s as it removes all the scenes involving the Argentinian Junta and the Pope. One suspects that the reaction the film would have gotten in the 1980s when it was supposed to have aired would have been similar to the reception that the 2003 Showtime film DC 9/11: Time Of Crisis (a film about President George W. Bush's handling of the 9/11 attacks and the lead up to the invasion of Afghanistan) received when it aired: being seen overwhelmingly as a piece of propaganda. The Falklands Play definitely isn't that but it is all too easy to see how it could have been seen as such.The Falklands Play is an interesting film. It has strong performances from its entire cast and also features strong productions values especially with its cinematography. The script however is the film's most interesting point as it was the source of controversy that kept the film from originally being made to begin with. With hindsight, it is easy to see why the script proved so controversial at the time and why it could remain so today. The Falklands Play therefore is an interesting film about a controversial war and a intriguing piece of historical drama.

This is a deeply flawed portrayal of the Falklands crisis, though arguably it's no more flawed than portrayals which unthinkingly demonise the Thatcher government. Propaganda is still propaganda, regardless of which side it comes from.The Falklands Play makes many errors and omissions which undermines its relevance: It ignores the prevailing British domestic political situation. Thatcher was struggling in the polls, there was disquiet over the wisdom of choosing such a right-wing leader both within the Conservative party and in the country as a whole, and the economy showed no sign of sustained recovery from the problems of the late 1970s.Thatcher is rightly portrayed as someone who had delusions of Churchillian leadership, however, as the play portrays her as focused and eloquent in the way Churchill was, she was in reality as desperate to retain the idea of British international power and empire as Churchill was. And just as wrong. Such irrational motives will always be wrong.The idea that Thatcher would cite Argentina's human rights record as a reason to act aggressively is unlikely given the US support for Latin America's quasi-fascist dictators (Operation Condor and more). The international fight against Communism was far more important, especially in the US, than a petty squabble over some desolate rocks filled with little Englanders. Thatcher would know that Argentina's dictatorship was US-backed, just as was Chile's and a handful of others, and their unethical methods were tolerated in order to prevent the spread of Communism.The play shows Argentina to be exclusively aggressive, intransigent and scheming. Appeasers or doubters are portrayed as woolly-minded, weak or foolish (especially Francis Pym). Another reviewer suggested this was a 'love letter' to Thatcher, in that it portrayed her in almost exclusively positive light: deliberate, strong, decisive, thoughtful. All of these two dimensional portrayals serve only undermine the writer's intention (whatever that might be) and makes the whole easy to dismiss.There are comments here that suggest a black and white version of events suggesting Argentina, in order to quell internal disquiet about the ruling dictatorship, invaded Las Malvinas, a long-standing dispute with Britain, to unite their nation and distract from domestic problems. Whilst this is true, the play's wilful ignorance of Britain's readiness to pay only token and cursory attention to US diplomatic efforts gives an unbalanced picture.The Falklands conflict was, like most international disputes, very complicated, shrouded in doubt and manipulation. It was the product of both domestic realpolitik, international image, and personal ego. The Falklands Play prefers to give the impression that it was some brave, patriotic, moral battle of good (Britain) against evil (Argentina). Writers and film-makers have learned that you can't even portray the Second World War in such simplistic terms any more.Thatcher was a shrewd political operator who saw an opportunity to depict Britain as the injured party in a minor dispute. She and her government undoubtedly played their part in amplifying and escalating a situation which could have been resolved without the loss of life which the dispute ultimately cost, for domestic reasons. Anyone who can remember the tub-thumbing, jingoistic nonsense which accompanied much of the coverage of the conflict will know just how well it played for the struggling Thatcher government. Ultimately, both Thatcher and Galtieri used the islands as a pawn for domestic political reasons. In reality, it should never have been allowed to get to the stage of armed conflict, and Britain, as much as Argentina, must share the blame for it doing so.

I write this review, 25 years to the day of the liberation of The Falkland Islands. It is a review, I feel compelled to write in honour of all British servicemen killed in that brief conflict in 1982. I'm sure the Argentines have different views and feelings about the events which occurred between 2nd April - 14 June 1982, but just like The Falklands Play, my review intends to give a solely British perspective.The Falklands War, (or 'conflict' to give it's correct suffix), was the first war Britain had fought in my lifetime. It occurred shortly before my 9th birthday, but I remember it all as if it were yesterday. My father rushing into the garden to tell my brother and I that 'Were going down to give the Argie's some stick', the immense pride we all felt watching HMS Invincible setting sail with great pomp and circumstance, with all those brave lads aboard and the sadness and horror we all felt when the news of our Naval and Military loses started to filter through to the UK news services. It was awful when we heard HMS Coventry was sunk, not only was it the ship of our city, but one of our relatives was serving on the ship at the time and thankfully was not one of the 19 servicemen lost on the ship that day.As I said earlier, 'The Falklands Play' gives a British ONLY viewpoint of the Argentine invasion of British Sovereign Territory and our Governments subsequent yet fruitless attempts to negotiate and defuse the situation by diplomatic means.Patricia Hodge gives a truly fantastic performance as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who seeing an act of aggression committed against British subjects, refuses to concede to the appeasement demands made by The Argentines, The Americans mediators and even members of her own Cabinet.In some scenes, Hodge shows us the softer side to the 'Iron Lady', like her obvious frustration about having to order the sinking of the Argentine Cruiser 'General Belgrano', (formerly the American Cruiser USS Phoenix CL-46, a ship that had actually survived the Pearl Harbor attack 40 years earlier). We see her openly weeping when she first hears news of HMS Sheffield being hit by an Exocet anti-ship missile, and the sleepless night she experiences while worried about the stranded Marines, trapped on the unforgiving snow covered rocks of South Georgia. However, most of these instances occurred behind closed doors. In public 'Maggie' remained unwavering in her support for the besieged islanders and resolute in her stance.Other cast members are also outstanding, James Fox, as Lord Carrington, John Standing as William 'Willie' Whitelaw and Clive Merrison as John Nott. However, it is Colin Stinton who plays US Secretary Of State Alexander Haig that gives one of my favourite performances. My favourite character, (apart from Patricia Hodge as Thatcher), is John Woodvine's performance as Former 1st Sea Lord, Admiral of The Fleet and Chief Of Defence Staff, the late Sir Terence Lewin. He's the guy Maggie could not do without, and Woodvine plays his part magnificently, a great actor, playing and even greater man. Bob Sherman's portrayal of President Ronald Reagan, is sadly one of the weakest performances here, turning the 'Great Communicator' into a stuttering, indecisive bumbler instead of the great man he was.The Falklands Play, even boasts some subtle humour in parts, but due to it's serious subject matter, it's kept to a minimum because when you're making a film about war, especially one so fresh in some people's minds, to include laughs would be treading a very dangerous tightrope indeed.Whether any of the things we see in 'The Falklands Play' actually happened verbatim, we will never know as the play comes straight out of writer Ian Cureais's head. All I know is that 'The Falklands Play' is an enjoyable piece of screen work.There are some that says it glorifies 'Thatcherism', maybe it does, but it's a movie made in one time, about events that occurred in another. There was a war, people died, and thanks to both Maragret Thatchers truculence, and the UK armed forces, (still the best fighting force in the world), Britain won it, but not without price.25 years on, I would like to pay my tribute to all who died and praise the courage of all the Falkland Islanders who were effected by those events 25 years ago. To them, I quote their own Island's motto .... "Desire The Right" We certainly didn't let them down.

This play was commissioned by the BBC and it was written based on the actual dialogues that occurred in the Cabinet, the Admiralty and in the House of Commons; the opinions, comments and speeches are all there on record if you want to see them. The BBC backed out of the project, because they wanted (like most British TV networks at the time) to put the knife into Mrs Thatcher's government and this play doesn't do that. Those who were expecting "Sink The Belgrano" got something else instead, and hey, it was something closer to the truth than a political rant.I'm sorry to disappoint any die hard anti-Thatcher or socialist critics reading this, but this play depicts what happened in those meetings. Mrs Thatcher didn't rub her hands with glee at the prospect of war after all, neither did the Conservative government ritually dine on a feast of babies before holding meetings and not all political drama has to have a strong left wing edge. And if you still think this play is a whitewash, then can I direct you to the primary source material this play was written from. Patricia Hodge is great in the role of Mrs Thatcher, and her put down of Tony Benn (again, it's a real quote, that dialogue did happen) at the end is brilliantly realised.