South Pacific

Some Last words, and I will silence myself forever on this subject.

First regarding Mary Martin. Rodgers and Hammerstein pretty much wrote the thing with Martin in mind for the Nellie character. (In fact, as she states in her autobiography, she had some input over the development of the show.) Mary Martin had a knack for playing young, innocent, and idealistic and with the illusions that one can create on stage (no close ups, more lights and makeup) it was possible to see her as being that way. It was also, especially after Peter Pan, the type of role that audiences expected to see her in. I mean, hey, she won a TONY Award for playing Peter.

On the other piece of this, the age thing, take a look at the book of the play (which the movie version is based on). There are references in the thing to "older men and younger woman" relationships, such as the classic line, "Mother thinks that older men are better for girls". OR the crack about Captain Bracket's age and virility, and his angry comeback on how a younger woman could possibly find him attractive.

There is also the lyrics to Emile's Soliloquy "This is what I've longed for someone YOUNG and smiling climbing up my hill...YOUNGER men than I am, officers and doctors, probably pursue her. She could have her pick." Why would he refer to her and his competition as younger if they weren't, at least in comparison to him?

While it's true that naivete and narrow mindedness are not just the province of the young, I would think that the words of the playwright and the lyricist would speak for themselves. And the words of Michener himself who says that Emile is a "man in his forties" and Ensign Forbush is a "young girl".

While I had high hopes for this remake of South Pacific,I regret to say it fell far below My expectations.With a strong cast (including the much too old Glenn Close) I at least expected this film to be an improvement over the original Rosano Brazzi version.

The first problem was the cutting down of the supporting characters. Poor Jack Thompson,who was brilliantly cast as Capt. Brackett had all of his best moments left on the cutting room floor,Bloody Mary was unfairly deprived of "Happy Talk" and Robert Pastorelli's Billis did not get his wonderful scene in Brackett's office following the "diversionary tactics".

Secondly,the rearanging of the score blunted the emotional impact of some of Hammerstein's most heart wrenching moments. Having Cable sing "Carefully Taught" alone in his his Hospital room instead of to Emile blunts the songs impact. The same with Emile's "This Nearly Was Mine". For these songs to work they need another presence in the scene.

As for the acting. Glenn Close does her best but falls short of Mitzi Gaynor's on the money portrayal,Rade Serbedzija gives us a fine,sympathetic Emile and Equals,if not exceeds Brazzi's portrayal.Harry Connick is a great choice for Joe Cable and sings and acts his role well.Unfortunately the score was not recoreded lushly enough and some of the other vocals are a bit weak (Serbedzija's singing for example comes no where neat the immortal recording of Ezio Pinza.)The supporting cast does what it can whith their condensed roles but if would have been nice to have them fleshed out more. This film could have been a masterpiece if all the pieces were assembled properly,instead its a watchable but far from perfect screen adaptaion of a much better musical play.

This version of South Pacific is not half bad....that's the good half. The other half is bad, very bad indeed.

You'll notice straight away there are actually black people in the navy and no one wears tighty-whities or midriff bearing t-shirts. Amen for that! But, hey, who had the bright idea of casting Glenn Close as a twenty-somthing? Oh yeah....GLENN CLOSE. Much too old for Nellie. I'd believe she's in her late thirties at the youngest. When she sings "Cockeyed Optimist" the pancake layers of white concealer is woefully apparent. (She and the other navy women wear these khaki slacks which are really unflattering to the hind region!) And what about the character of her love interest, Emile? This guy looks like the spazzed out postal worker who delivers my mail on a daily basis. I wouldn't believe for one minute he's wealthy or dashing!

Luther seems like a dude who just took a nasty fall out of 1984 and unwittingly stumbled into a reality show called "World War II". You almost feel sorry for him.

Most disappointing of all, however, was Bloody Mary. Everyone take cover and duck! She sounds like Roseanne Barr after an all nighter alcohol and heroin binge. Her singing voice? It's slightly better, with the attributes of a cat being painfully executed. Overall she just screams, "Am I Pacific-Islander enough? Am I offending as many people as I can?" How 'bout them lips on Cable?! There was a semidramatic close-up during the Bali Hai number where I thought those things were gonna come through the screen and smother me alive!

With that being said, let's not dwell any longer on the negative. As aforementioned, some aspects of the musical were well done. No weird purple and orange lighting, mostly good vocal performances, and better costumes made this worthwhile. Also, I noticed the musical numbers were sequenced differently (probably to make it faster paced). Even with the unfortunate absence of Stew Pot, I would watch it again!

I think my favorite part was the severed heads on sticks...

There's been a lot of hoo-hah about Ms. Close's superannuated Nellie Forbush, but I think this is a relatively minor issue -- really a matter of cranky foiled expectations. Nothing demands that Nellie be 22; narrow-minded provincialism was and is not unknown in people over 40. And making Nellie and Emile a more evenly mature match adds a nice counterpoint to the youthful Cable/Liat romance.

I think the real problem lies in the decision to pour on the blood and guts.

Presented just a few years after the end of World War II, the original "South Pacific" was a far cry (most would say huge step forward) from 1920's frivolities like "No, No, Nanette" and even more immediate folksy precursors like "Oklahoma." The American theatre seemed primed for a new kind of musical realism, and "South Pacific" bravely served up real people confronting life-and-death issues, with nary a tap-dancing ingenue in sight. Nevertheless, it didn't completely abandon the old, sentimental/comical musical traditions (which, after all, had been brought to their greatest glory by Richard Rodgers and his pals), and there was -- and is -- a limit to how much gritty realism the aesthetic could sustain.

I haven't read the original Michener stories on which "South Pacific" was based, and they may very well have featured severed heads. But in the context of "Some Enchanted Evening," such imagery was anathema to Rodgers & Hammerstein, and it remains alarmingly discordant today.

The choice to scale up the age of Nellie Forbush to allow her to be played by 50-something Glenn Close was one which could have backfired on the makers of this update; it is to her credit that she performs and sings in the role very well.

As Emile, Rade Sherbedgia is perhaps a little too high-voiced for the demands of the songs, but his portrayal of the lonely islander is touching and effective. As Bloody Mary, Lori Tan Chinn looks more like the part of the greedy trader than did Juanita Hall in the 50s film, and her singing of Bal'i Ha'i is excellent. I did miss Happy Talk, which is omitted completely from this version, but the songs that remain have been arranged with style and come across very well (particularly This Nearly Was Mine, Younger Than Springtime, and I'm In Love With A Wonderful Guy).

Harry Connick jnr. completes the main cast as young Lt. Cable, resembling and sounding like a young Sinatra. The character continues to be totally unsympathetic but he is better overall than John Kerr had been in the earlier version. I don't think this film is bad at all, despite the numerous negative comments I have heard: it is perhaps more realistic than the colour-filtered world of Joshua Logan's film, but perhaps that new slant is for the better.