The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 39

7 March 1993 The Sunday Age AGENDA Review To miss this one is a crying shame TOM RYAN Don Q's story gives all a chance to shine CORRIE PERKIN -wo so LIT- i I r- r.vt. CD AV-' V. mmt.m-j- v': -i 'The Crying Game' (M, totaling at tha Villa Cantra and the RIyoH clnamaa) Written and directed by Nell Jordan. Starring Stephen ftea. Miranda Richardson.

Forest Whltaker, Jaye Davidson. A soulful treasure. A film best enjoyed by knowing as little as possible about it beforehand. IN cricket, a googly (sometimes known as a wrong-un) is a disguised off-break delivered with a leg-break action. It spins inwards to the right-hand batsman when, if everything has gone according to the bowler's plan, the batsman expects it to turn the other way.

You don't need to have spent hours puzzling over a Tony Greig diagram, or even care two hoots about cricket, to make sense of 'The Crying Game'. But, since Neil Jordan's wonderful new film is the cinematic equivalent of the googly, an appreciation of cricketing Jargon can help. Among the many subjects discussed by kidnapped British soldier, Jody (Forest Whltaker) and the IRA man assigned to guard him, Fergus (Stephen Rea), is cricket. The others, like the apocryphal scorpion and the frog fable that Jody enthusiastically outlines to his captor, all plant the seeds for much of what follows. Cricket is probably the least Important of these.

It crops up repeatedly, the game's strategies and accessories (googlies, scoreboards, creams and the like) contributing to the film's delirious patterns of rhyme, repetition and reversal. But it simply serves as a means to an end, its details a way of building connections between sequences and characters. And, since I'm not going to give you much plot here, that will have to do. And it is enough. Like the googlies over which Jody reminisces, 'The Crying Came' keeps turning in unexpected directions.

Its characters' identities constantly changing as they adjust to shifting circumstances. It starts out like a political thriller. Jody is to be exchanged for an IRA man under British arrest, and he's to be executed if the deal falls through. Fergus doesn't like what he may have to do, but is committed to his cause, proud of bis rank as "a volunteer" and a little contemptuous of Jody's defensive claim that what he's doing is "just Playing games: Stephen Rea and guessing in the 'The Crying Game'. Malcolm in Spike Lee's courageous talkTes" long, the most demanding of the new biopics.

The film has a magnificent, look-alike protagonist in Denzel Washington and a marvellous text for writers Arnold Perl and Lee to work with Alex Haley's as-told-to 'Autobiography of Malcolm X'. The narrative is fairly frank about Malcolm's early criminal life, but makes up for it almost fulsomely in presenting him as an unswerving advocate of black rights, both during bis time with, and after his break from, Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam movement. It also cleans up Malcolm's act in those later years, eschewing the loonier religious rhetoric and anti-semitic remarks. How does this powerful film stack up agaiast predecessors in the field of political biography? Lee's film is courageous in many ways, not the least being that (like Oliver Stone's 'JFK' and Warren Beatty's 'Reds') it was quite lavishly made in defiance of the old Hollywood maxim that politics is box-office poison. It also has something in common with Ella Kazan's 'Viva Zapata' (1952, Marlon Brando as Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata) and is a descendant of such honored "straight" political biopics as Henry King's 1944 'Wilson' (Alexander Knox as the troubled US World War I President), John Cromwell's 'Abe Lincoln in Illinois' (1940, Raymond Massey) and Vincent J.

Donehue's 'Sunrise at Campobello' (1960, Ralph Bellamy as the young Franklin D. Roosevelt). DeVito's 'Hoffa', about notorious Teamsters (transport workers') Union president Jimmy Hoffa, runs for -140 minutes, tells us quite a lot about the subject's career, very little about his personal life and even less about the times in which the action is set, between the 1930s and 1975. Perhaps DeVlto and screenwriter David Mamet expect their audience. "film" a Then, when the British fail to meet the IRA deadline, a reluctant Fergus Is ordered to carry out the execution.

What follows makes it clear that "The Crying Game' is no 'ordinary political thriller. Partly psychodrama partly love story, and ingeniously plotted throughout, it is far more concerned with the state of one's soul than with crises of conscience or the causes for which one Is fighting. As a member of the IRA, Fergus believes he is at war for his freedom, but he Is going to find It in ways that he could never have expected and that have nothing to do with the IRA. Just as Fergus has no idea of what's in store for blm as a result of bis conversations with Jody, 'The Crying Game' Is not going to be what you expect. But, be assured, an exhilarating emotional roller-coaster of a film It certainly is.

Don't bother. Maybe. Good viewing. Don't miss it. PICKS OF THE WEEK 'Glengarry Glen Rom': A fine screen adaptation of David Mamet's hard-hitting 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, smartly directed by James Foley with the help of a powerful cast.

Screening at the Brighton Bay and the Russell Cinemas. He Who Gets Slapped' ((1924): Swedish master Victor Sjostrom's American debut is a powerful, painful melodrama. Screening today at 8 pm with live musical accompaniment at the Northcote Amphitheatre. 'Lorenzo's Oil': George Miller's inspirational, life-affirming tale of the search for a Holy Grail, based on a real-life situation. On general release.

'The Stolen Children': A powerful humanist impulse shines through Gianni Amelio's haunting film about displaced people in an uncaring world. Screening at the Nova. 'Unforglven': Clint Eastwood's beautifully crafted new film is the best Western in two decades. On general release. Miranda Richardson keep the audience Charles In the Hawketts.

The band's hypnotic 'Mardl Gras Mambo' still fires up the Mardi Gras crowd each year.Although the band became the most popular In the city for a long while. Art felt the draw of a solo career and by the early '60s he was Instant Records' hottest property with hits such as 'All These Things'. Working at the now legendary Dew Drop Inn, be found himself constantly surrounded by great musicians such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Little Richard as regular visitors. By the mld-'70s the Meters had established an amazing reputation (far in advance of their record sales) and a recording career that had started with funky Instruments Is broadened enough for them to open with the Rolling Stones. IT was a recording the brothers made with their uncle George Landry and his Mardl Gras Indian tribe the Wild Tchoupltoulas that finally got them together.

A self-titled debut album was followed several years later by the classic 'Flyo On The Bayou' and after the band teamed up with the late Bill Graham, renowned for his promotional skills, they started achieving the sort of profile that many felt they deserved. Although they developed a formidable reputation for their live perfor-mancei under Graham's management, their studio work was not as Immediately successful. The 1986 'Uptown' album was an inauspicious start to the new high-profile Image. Despite an abundance of special guests such as Keith Richards, their record was an artistic disaster. The producers also proved that the brothers needed a special producer to bring out their best In Daniel Lanols, Canadian associate of Brian Eno and VI and, later, the producer of Bob Dylan's 'Oh Mercy', the brothers finally found a soul- 'Don Quixote', The Australian Bailet, Stat Theatre, until Wednesday.

THE background: What do we know about Don Quixote? In (he novel, then the film and the musical, the Don was a character of drama and substance a hero In the old-fashioned sense of the word, rn this revival of the Rudolf Nureyev pro duction for the Australian Ballet Don Quixote is portrayed as an elderly Spanish gentleman full of the desires of youth but trapped in an old man's body with an old man's wandering mind. The plot: Don't be fooled. This is not a ballet about Don Quixote. Certainly the opening scene in the Don's rented rooms before he embarks on his journey with the faithful Sancbo Paiua by his side, suggests the ballet is about bis personal quest for fulfilment. But the Don's role is more as an observer of the love story of Kitri, the fiery daughter of the town's tavern owner, and her lover, the poor barber Basilio.

It is their journey we observe the journey from cheeky young love to deeper commitment overcoming obstacles such as an objecting father and a pursuing aged suitor, along the way. How the dancers performed: On opening night artistic director Maina Gielgud brought out the heavy artillery Lisa Pavane, considered the company's most experienced in-form female principal, and her husband, Greg Horsman, as Kitri and Basilio. Horsman, back dancing after three months' leave, performed an opeoiog solo that would have done Nureyev the dancer who made the part of Basilio his own proud. Horsman was strong, agile, and superbly confident; Pavane, meanwhile, blossomed as the night went on, reaching great heights during her solos and pas de deux in the final act. Was it my imagination, or does Horsman's greatness diminish slightly" when his wife comes on stage? Perhaps she outshines him or, more to my mind, he gallantly allows her the spotlight acting as a great support and encourager.

Oh, how much I would like to see him try Basilio with someone else (perhaps Miranda Coney who, in this season, partnered visiting Russian dancer Irek Mukhamedov, or Lisa Bolte). Another night I saw Sian Stokes and Steven Heathcote in the leading roles. Stokes initially seemed uncomfortable in the Kitri role, but settled down to give a very able performance. The romance and grace she brought to the second act must particularly bC noted. For Heathcote, who is a very athletic dancer, this part did much to complement bis talents and together they brought the Kitri-Basillo relationship to life.

On both nights, David Ashmole was the dignified Don, accompanied by Ray Powell as a loyal and witty San-cho. How lucky the Australian Ballet Is to have artists such as Powell and Colin Peasley in its ranks. It seems that whenever Peasley puts on a wig, a hat and a pair of high heels, a ballet comes to life. As Gamache, the nobleman with little chance of capturing Kltri's heart he is brilliant Special mention should also. be.

made of the corps de ballet. For the-first few years of Maina Gielgud's reign as artistic director, this was so often a weak link. It seems that with 'Don Quixote', the chorus has finally, come of age. The boys, in particular; relished the rhythms of the Spanish-inspired score by Ludwig Minkus. dnd the gypsy camp scene in Act Two and parts of Act Three were particularly outstanding.

Keep your eye on: On opening night young Campbell McKenzie provided the fire and athleticism required for the role of the gypsy boy. He is certainly a dancer to be watched. The' company also has a group of girls who have regularly turned out highly accomplished performances. After two nights' at 'Don Quixote' I Include Lisa Bolte. Justine Miles, Linda Ridg-way, Lynette Wills and Robyn Corby in this group.

For a couple of these dancers, a promotion to the principal or senior artist ranks must surely be only a season or two away. Captivating duo: Lisa Pavane and Greg Horsman 'Don Quixote Black power: Denzel Washington as THE biopic, a film about the life of a real person, is a stock Hollywood genre, one that fre- quently plays fast and loose with truth as well as reality. But audiences aren't exactly addicted to either of these rather abstract properties and it's not only movies that tell people what they like to hear. So some of the more successful bio-pics in cinema history, from William Dleterle's 'The Life of Emile Zola' to Mllos Forman's 'Amadeus', weave fanciful stories around famous, and not-so-famous, names without anyone seeming to mind very much. That is one of the things that distinguished most earlier examples of the genre from three new biopics that have reached Melbourne screens in the past weeks Spike Lee's 'Malcolm X', Danny DeVito's 'Hoffa' and Richard Attenborough's British film 'Chaplin'.

All are longer than earlier biopics, and go into far greater detail about their subjects. Inevitably they skim, gloss and omit here and there but, compared with the celebrated biopics of the studio era, they are veritable encyclopaedias of certifiable facL Whether this makes them as attractive as they are undoubtedly worthy is another matter. Dieterle, an acknowledged master of the genre, may have been a mite cavalier with history in bis series of biopics for Warners others are "The Story of Louis Pasteur', 'Juarez' and 'Dr Erlich's Magic Bullet' but all remain in the memory for being at least as inspiring and, dammit, entertaining as the latest lot But they are products of another time, made for another audience. For technical, economic and, shall we say, philosophical reasons, the new breed of biopic obviously contains many things that its predecessors couldn't A character such as Malcolm was Inconceivable in Dieterle's heyday, and the Warners studio of that time certainly wouldn't have wanted its logo up front on a film about him. But there it is on 'Malcolm X', the most impressive and, at 201 minutes mate In the studio.

Lanois' French-Canadian background brought an Immediate empathy to the brothers' music and a vision for which they had been struggling most of the decade. 'Yellow Mobn', released In 1989, distilled all the essential elements of the Nevilles: funk and African-influenced percussion, the peculiar mix of Christianity and voodoo religions, the stunning voice of Aaron, and the seasoned musicianship of veterans. About that time Aaron Neville was recording 'Don't Know Much' with Linda Ronstadt a song that was to win a Grammy and set a record for the longest gap between top five singles for an artist or group of artists in American chart history (23 years). Now the years of struggle have given way to an avalanche of success. Recently, the band recorded with Robbie Robertson on 'Storyvllle' and their old friend Dr John on 'Going Back To New Orleans' (which recently won the Grammy for Best Blues Recording).

The Neville Brothers also released 'Brother's Keeper (1990), produced by Lanols associate Malcolm Burn an extension of the work already developed on 'Yellow Moon'. Last year's recording, 'Family Groove', was a less satisfying effort and, according to Art Neville, has made the family determined to gain more control over their own recording. After four decades In the business Neville talks from bitter experience. Only recently has be been able to earn substantial royalties from any of the Meters' recordings (now being released on CD). Art Is also in the process of recording a solo album that will feature his stylish keyboard skills.

"I'm going back to my roots," he says of his solo project "I'm going way back to some things when I was a kid. I'm going to do some covers of some old, obscure stuff that you probably can't even find now." The Neville Brothers play at the Palait on Friday. treatment of his life and politics. both at home and overseas, to know this background, which must have had a formative influence on Hoffa, the union he built and the expanding and temporarily influential labor movement of which it was a part. It ignores his Trotskyite beginnings but concedes his links with, and sponsorship by, the Mafia, in compiling what is essentially a sympathetic attitude towards this most reviled figure In American trade-union history.

(Sympathetic? Well, for starters, listen to David Newman's elegiac music.) This film, too, is greatly enhanced by a masterly performance in the title role. Jack Nicholson exudes the self-confidence of a man who does whatever a man hasta do In such a fraught milieu. HOLLYWOOD has never been into making heroes (or even anti-heroes) of leaders of organised labor, and 'Hoffa' is certainly a first in this field, although Norman Jewison made a commendable 1978 film a clef called in which the leading character played by Sylvester Stallone is clearly Jimmy Hoffa. Attenborough's 'Chaplin' might have been longer than 144 minutes, not so much because more explanation of the subject is needed how do you explain genius? but because so many good stories from the principal sources, David Robinson's definitive biography and Chaplin's own self-indulgent autobiography, are omitted. But some people probably feel, from what they have heard about the film which races through Charlie's 87 years from a childhood debut in English music-hall to an apologetic Academy Award honor at 82 that it is too good to be true.

But there are insights in the script, which William Boyd, Bryan Forbes and William Goldman clearly labored over. The most significant concerns the persecution Chaplin suffered at the hands of US authorities, particularly after World War II. Attenborough's somewhat adventur- THEATRE too sore from her obsessive housework to play her beloved piano. The Reverend Father O'Gorman (Peter Curtin) is a worldly priest who loves a good time, although we come to see that whisky and women are his downfall. While this is something of a cliche In characterisation, he it otherwise plausible at he struggles to maintain a balance between strength of spirit and weakness of flesh.

Chrltty's grandfather, "Huses" O'Halloran (Malcolm Robertson) to named because of hit ability to accumulate property It an apparently rosy old man, but gradually reveals himself to be a right-wing cynic and proponent of the church who Is involved in politics against communism. Trocky Keating (Robert Etsex) cannot see the ointment for the flies as a sanctimonious Bible-bashing bachelor who is too attached to his old mate Denny and resents his marriage to Mary. A livelier visitor It Breda (Janet Andrewartha), a barmaid with a heart of gold and a wealth of experience with the opposite sex, who enjoys a drink, a smoke and a good Joke. This Is much to the disapproval of the last visitor, a vicious old biddy called Mlts Siss (Beverley DuanK who tends to dominate the evening too much, both at a malevolent force and at a character la the play. She la presented as something ol a caricature, at la a TV Maple, aad thit dimlalthes the attention of the production.

ous casting, rewarded with an Oscar nomination, of Robert Downey junior in the title role, is as inspired as the director's choice of Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. Of course, in commemorating a movie immortal, Attenborough is following a long, long trail. The lives of famous entertainers have always been a favored source of biopics, most of them clinging to a standardised fanciful pattern of public success and private frustration. There are outstanding exceptions, of course, such as 'Amadeus' (Tom Hulce as Mozart), Bob Fosse's 'Lenny' (1976, Dustin Hoffman as comedian Lenny Bruce); Hal Ashby's 'Bound for Glory' (1976, David Carradine as folk-ie Woody Guthrie), and even some among the more traditional entertainment biopics, such as Michael Apted's 'The Coal Miner's Daughter'. (1980, Sissy Spacek as singer Loretta Lynn).

But the bulk are standardised and predictable, no matter bow entertaining. Many are not even that. The three new biopics I have been discussing come to us hot on the heels of Ridley Scott's '1492: Conquest of Paradise', with Gerard Depardieu as Christopher Columbus, a visually stunning, if partial, account of European arrival in the Americas. It doesn't do much to untangle or explain the historical record and extends its running time to 155 minutes with unnecessarily extensive depiction of infighting among the Spaniards on Hispaniola but, against a plodder like David MacDonald's 1949 'Christopher Columbus' (Fredric March In the title role), it's a marvel of exposition and celerity. Bigger, broader, more incisive and more fully researched though they may be, the modern crop clings to what biopics have always seen as their primary object: the fashioning of heroes.

As far as cinema is concerned, Alphonse Karr was so correct In asserting that the more things change, the more they are the same. The play should be fairly streamlined by now since Its beginning in ll7f, when It was first produced by the Hunter Valley Theatre Company with Terence Clarke as the director, as he It thit time. Since then, it has had various seasons In Adelaide, Perth and Sydney, and a return run In Newcastle In 1181. John O'Donoghue has gone on to write other plays, the most outstanding being 'Essington Lewis: I Am Work', which was staged In Melbourne at the late, lamented Church Theatre In 1181. With 'A Happy and Holy Occasion' having such a history, the play should be better by now than It Is.

It has some great moments, with a strong sense of irony and foreboding, as exemplified la the title. And It Is also an accurate reflection of life In aa Irish Catholic household In those days, full of refereaces to religion aad Issues of recrimination and having a good time, regardless. The black humor Is very frisky. The set, by Tony Tripp, It very good, filling the big ttage la The Mer-lyn Theatre to advantage, with the backdrop made up of the two key tymbolt of the dual life, In the form of a huge industrial wheel and aa equally imposing cross. And the cast often Is excellent, consisting at some of the very best performers, who take to their latks with strength, tympathy aad tkilL But it hat a strange, unlikely conclusion, and tome confusion la variant quirky diversions, tach as thawing as before the play ends what happens la later life to the people Involved, except Christy, who ultimately Is, of coarse, the most interesting In terms of the future.

The Neville struggle pays off Strong performances fail to counter inherent flaws By Brian Wise AT the height of the so-called British Invasion of the American charts In the mid-'60s, the Beatles and their cohorts put a dampener on a New Orleans bit-making machine that had burgeoned over the previous IS years. The most painful part for the musicians from the Crescent City was to hear their songs recycled Into chart hits by the young white British groups. Royalties were minuscule and times lean for a few years, with the exception of Aaron Neville's chart-topping 'Tell It Like It Is'. With hindsight, it is easier to see this phenomenon as a tribute to the robustness of the New Orleans Influences and the richness of its musical heritage. A decade after the British invasion, Paul McCartney was in New Orleans recording with Wings while the Rolling Stones were championing the Meters a band that included Art Neville as a key member.

With a recording career stretching back to the early 1950s, keyboard exponent Art Neville has a fascinating perspective on the operation of the musical roundabout. These days he Is part of the formidable Neville Brothers band with brothers Charles, Cyril and Aaron. "You have to have patience and we have a lot of that, that's for sure," says Art, reflecting on their careers. Make no mistake, not only are the Neville Brothers now heroes In their home-; town: they are the embodiment of the New Orleans tradition. The family band draws together four exceptionally talented siblings In a musical union that synthesises varied experiences Into a unique blend.

When Art Joined some high-school friends (Including pianist James Booker) In Booker Boy and The' Rhyth-malres, his path In life was sealed. By 1955 he was recording with brother 'A Happy and Holy Occasion', by John O'Donoghue, Playbox at The Malt-housa, until 20 March. THE fevered states of industry at the Newcastle steelworks and the passion of Irish romanticism work on two distinct but connected levels In the latest showing of John O'Donoghue's first play, which Is the Playbox's opening production for the year. The two levels are to do with destiny: one as the collective, corporate will; the other the lives of people away from the work place, gathering at home, seeking mutual support, and striving to hold onto whatever dignity is still possible. The occasion referred to In the title should Indeed be happy and hely: Christy (James McKenaa), the 12-year-old son of the O'Mahon family, Is about to begin training for the priesthood, and the story of the play tells of a party held on Friday 11 February 142.

The date brings more than Its usual share of III fortune because on this night various characters will come undone through drink and guilt, while in the bigger picture It it the eve of the fall of Singapore. The world might well be at war outside, but within this gathering of vulnerable, doomed people, many Individuals are at odds with themselves and each other. The O'Mahoas are desperate because they are poor, and see Christy's calling as the one chance for redemption. But they depend oa this far too much, making the father, Deaay (Richard Piper), play the beggar, trying to raise money to help his son, while the mother, Mary (Ailta Piper), battles against Impending lasaalty. She sees her hands as being.