The Edge Of Darkness
Political thrillers are pretty well universally enjoyed: governmental and/or corporate skullduggery which endangers the public are one way for concerned artists to attack the perceived nefarious powers-that-be who would hurt us for profit and power. In the vein of powerful The Parallax View (1974) and All The President’s Men (1976), both directed by Alan J. Pakula, to Mike Nichols’ Silkwood (1983), A Very British Coup (1988), Michael Mann’s The Insider (1999), and HBO’s Dirty War (2005), up to this year’s theatrical remake of BBC’s miniseries, State of Play and the new James Cameron spectacular, Avatar, films that have tried to explore what happens to the average joe or political opposition figure when powerful forces are arrayed against them.
BBC’s Edge of Darkness (1985, shown in America a year later, now out on DVD for the first time), continued along those lines in a very conservative Britain, wherein Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister amid a Tory corporate takeover of the government. But a young gang of left-wing students discover leaking plutonium out of a government/ military-run reactor. Those not killed by the radiation-poisoning have been ruthlessly hunted down by those fearful of information being released to the British public.
Ronald Craven (Bob Peck), is a police detective, father of one of the student/activists, Emma Craven (Joanne Whalley). When Emma is murdered, right in front of him, he is forced to find explanations for the shotgun killing. Digging into suppressed government secrets about the nuclear accident, his own life is threatened, repeatedly.
Director Martin Campbell and writer Troy Kennedy-Martin spoon-feed us a tasty combination of idealism and the practical realities of fighting a government that will stop at nothing to protect its image. The entire six episodes are somewhat difficult to understand due to regional British dialects (north-country, mainly), but make their way to an ending that is resonant for we in this financially-devastating climate. Plus ça change, plus ça reste pareil/The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Bob Peck, who played Detective Craven and who died of cancer at age 53, was a popular television British actor at the time, who went on to play a pivotal role in Spielberg’s first Jurassic Park. Here he brings his character’s dour northern personality to full life, fighting unseen adversaries in order to bring justice to his murdered daughter. Joanna Whalley, who married and then divorced Val Kilmer, and became briefly known as Joanna Whalley-Kilmer, is an exceedingly pretty and vivacious Emma, with solid support from character actors such as Joe Don Baker, John Woodvine, Charles Kay and Ian MacNeice.
The DVD has a great bonus chapter, interviewing most of the survivors. The film is truly worthy of notice, as we can never be too vigilant about the dangers of corporate/military/religious fanaticism, known to us as fascism.