Hidden Agenda depicts an investigation into the murder of an American civil rights activist in Northern Ireland by the police while driving in the company of a Provisional Irish Republican Army sympathiser. A conspiracy is gradually revealed involving a successful Central Intelligence Agency plot to influence the 1987 UK General Election and keep Margaret Thatcher in power, and previously to get Margaret Thatcher elected Conservative Party chairman over the ex-PM Edward Heath and beat Labour in 1979 through alliance with MI6 distributing black propaganda about communists influencing strikes in the 1970s and Heath’s infidelities.Although fictional, the film was inspired by the investigation into the Royal Ulster Constabulary’s alleged “shoot to kill policy”. Cox’s character represents John Stalker, the leader of that investigation. E4A, an undercover unit of the Royal Ulster Constabulary claimed to be involved in the killings, is mentioned briefly in the film. —wikipedia
Unlike virtually all his contemporaries, Ken Loach has never succumbed to the siren call of Hollywood, and it’s virtually impossible to imagine his particular brand of British socialist realism translating well to that context. After studying law at St. Peter’s College, Oxford, he branched out into the theater, performing with a touring repertory company. This led to television, where in alliance with producer ‘Tony Garnett’ he produced a series of docudramas, most notably the devastating “Cathy Come Home” episode of “The Wednesday Play” (1964), whose impact was so massive that it led directly to a change in the homeless laws. He made his feature debut Poor Cow (1967) the following year, and with “Kes”, he produced what is now acclaimed as one of the finest films ever made in Britain. However, the following two decades saw his career in the doldrums with his films poorly distributed (despite the obvious quality of work such as The Gamekeeper (1968) (TV) and Looks and Smiles (1981… read more
