The Wilby Conspiracy

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Steve D Not quite worthy of its stars. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/19/23 Full Review Audience Member In apartheid-era South Africa, Shack Twala (Sidney Poitier), a black revolutionary who had served time on Robben Island, is freed by Rina van Niekerk (Prunella Gee), his Afrikaner defence attorney, because he would be a victim of retroactive legislation. Rina, estranged from her husband Blane van Niekerk (Rutger Hauer), is having a relationship with an English mining engineer, Jim Keogh (Michael Caine), who has attended Shack's trial. Surprised by the verdict, Rina, Jim and Shack go off to celebrate at her house. They are stopped by policemen who are conducting identity document checks and arresting everyone who does not have their papers on them. As Shack has only just been released from prison he will not receive his papers until the next day. The policeman and Shack antagonise each other leading to Shack being handcuffed and arrested. When Rina attempts to pull the policeman off Shack, the policeman hits her, knocking her to the ground. Jim assaults and knocks out the policeman making all three fugitives. At a police station, a police brigadier (Patrick Allen) is chastised by the racist Major Horn (Nicol Williamson) of the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) for not only arresting Shack but continuing with their random identity checks and arrests that have infuriated world opinion. The three fugitives are followed and monitored by BOSS to lead them to discover their escape route to Botswana and its facilitators, Indian dentists Anil Mukarjee and Persis Ray; a stash of stolen uncut diamonds being used to fund the Black Congress Party and its leader, a man named Wilby Xaba (Joe De Graft)... "The Wilby Conspiracy" shines the light on apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s, but the storyline doesn´t add up with its messy structure, plot holes and a partly not that logic set up. Caine and Poitier seems a bit lost in their roles as well despite the fact that they are trying to portray the characters as good as they can. Maybe the direction was not that good. However it was nice to see one of my favourites, Rutger Hauer, in the film. Rest in peace Rutger. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine carry off respectable performances in a film that shows the dark underside of South African society. A few contrived twists and turns in the plot. with a surprise ending. The villagers speak Swahili, the language of Kenya, which is not spoken in South Africa. Hollywood doesn't care. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member As you would expect, "The Wilby Conspiracy" is unsurprisingly lean when it comes to storytelling, but that doesn't make it any less fun. It's an adventurous caper that's set in an interesting part of the world, which makes for some spectacular scenery, and overall, it works as good, mindless entertainment. There are some entirely irrelevant sequences (such as Shack's passionate exchange with Dr. Ray), which seem to be the result of 70s film making, but "The Wilby Conspiracy" is great in its own way. Generally, I prefer to be genuinely amused by a film than blown away by its artistic merit. Oh, and Nicol Williamson is great. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member One of Michael Cains turkeys. Avoid at all costs. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Rutger Hauer (best actor ever) is a mere side player here, that's the main point. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Wilby Conspiracy

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