"The Wilby Conspiracy" is a strange film--there's no way around that. Now this isn't to say it's bad, but its unpredictability and very unusual plot left me feeling a bit bowled over by the whole thing.
The first portion of the film looked a bit like a re-working of the Sidney Poitier-Tony Curtis film "The Defiant Ones" and according to IMDb, the studio played this up to the hilt. Portier has spent the last ten years as a political prisoner in a South African jail and has just received his release. As he and his lawyer and Michael Caine (who has no discernible reason for being there) leave the court, they are attacked by police and he and Caine beat the crap out of the two cops. Naturally, this is NOT going to make the rest of the police happy and the two men are now on the run. But it's not exactly like the earlier film--they are NOT handcuffed together and the don't hate each other.
The film abruptly changes and moves into very strange territory. It then becomes a film all about the smuggling of diamonds to the rebels outside of South Africa. And, for much of the rest of the film there are plots, counter-plots and a lot of action near the end. It's all pretty interesting--just not what I'd expected. And while it is obviously an anti-Apartheid film, the message is a bit lost (at times) in the process. In other words, it's not as clearly anti-Apartheid as later films such as "A Dry White Season" or "Biko". This isn't a complaint--more just an observation about the overall tone of the film. I did enjoy it--it certainly was entertaining. My only complaint is that there were two sex scenes that seemed to have absolutely no reason for being there. I am not a prude--it just looked a bit sloppy and pointless. Still, with the rest of the film being rather strong, this can easily be overlooked.
By the way, if you care, this is Rutger Hauer's first non-Dutch film.
The first portion of the film looked a bit like a re-working of the Sidney Poitier-Tony Curtis film "The Defiant Ones" and according to IMDb, the studio played this up to the hilt. Portier has spent the last ten years as a political prisoner in a South African jail and has just received his release. As he and his lawyer and Michael Caine (who has no discernible reason for being there) leave the court, they are attacked by police and he and Caine beat the crap out of the two cops. Naturally, this is NOT going to make the rest of the police happy and the two men are now on the run. But it's not exactly like the earlier film--they are NOT handcuffed together and the don't hate each other.
The film abruptly changes and moves into very strange territory. It then becomes a film all about the smuggling of diamonds to the rebels outside of South Africa. And, for much of the rest of the film there are plots, counter-plots and a lot of action near the end. It's all pretty interesting--just not what I'd expected. And while it is obviously an anti-Apartheid film, the message is a bit lost (at times) in the process. In other words, it's not as clearly anti-Apartheid as later films such as "A Dry White Season" or "Biko". This isn't a complaint--more just an observation about the overall tone of the film. I did enjoy it--it certainly was entertaining. My only complaint is that there were two sex scenes that seemed to have absolutely no reason for being there. I am not a prude--it just looked a bit sloppy and pointless. Still, with the rest of the film being rather strong, this can easily be overlooked.
By the way, if you care, this is Rutger Hauer's first non-Dutch film.