Vita di campagna

Uncle Vanja in the Australian outback with a perfect rendering of the characters; engrossing, entertaining, and the sad ending as well. I voted it a "10". It looks like Hollywood could learn a lot from Australia.

The director, Michael Blakemore, takes an artistic gamble by loosely adapting Anton Chekhov's play, Uncle Vanya, to Australia. It works on his terms, with Blakemore doing a fine job as the returning native son. Greta Scacchi, whose effect on the locals as his new and young wife is presented in an effective fashion, also performs well. The direction is somewhat uneven and, as a result, the cast does not achieve an ensemble effect so important for the filmization/adaptation. Sam Neill, as is customary, plays Sam Neill. However, Kerry Fox, a brilliant actress, shines. The production design and costumes are nicely and accurately created. In sum, Blakemore does not attempt to go beyond the perimeter of the original masterwork by Chekhov who, after all, is the originator of the "slice of life" genre.

I can't speak to the quality of the source material, other than to acknowledge Chekov's fine reputation. I hesitate to read the book now, for fear that it will prove to be as bad as this film.

I was attracted by the the quality of the actors, and pleased by the production and tone of the film. The acting was indeed quite good, with perhaps one exception. I don't know if the character Jack Dickens was supposed to come across as a buffoon, or whether this was a case of over-acting by John Hargreaves. Either way, it was dissonant.

But the real disappointment was that the film ultimately failed to present any compelling or sympathetic characters among the marquee cast.

The supporting actors did yeoman work, and I found myself enjoying them more than the central players, e.g. The old farm hand, Livingstone, played by Maurie Fields. But among the principal figures, only Sally (Kerry Fox) was worthy of some sympathy, but not enough to overcome the growing feeling, as the story progressed, that their petty and silly putterings hardly amounted to a hill of beans. Initially, I could see some good qualities in Sally, Jack and the doctor, but as their core conceits were revealed, I found myself caring very little what happened with any of them, not to mention Sally's father and step-mother, the story's "catalysts".

Frankly, most of them deserved a good spanking. Come to think of it, and I regret to say, watching that might have made for a more enjoyable time.

The Country Life is what I consider to be a pretty run-in-the-mill rich-people-go-into-the-country-and- the=country-folk-teach-them-a-lesson type of movie. Michael Blakemore and Greta Scaachi play two upper crust British folk who set foot in the beautiful Australian countryside to visit his relations that he hasn't seen forever. He's acquired much success in the city, something not lost on the country folk. However, just like me, when the spoiled rich people go into the country, it's not quite the same lifestyle. Soon, they try to change the whole house upside down, and even getting to the point where they want to sell it. The country folk, needless to say, are not amused. The plot in this is rather predictable, sort of like City Slickers meets Gosford Park. Everyone seems to have a high upper nose about the whole thing, and I HATE movies like that. The acting for this is pretty good, Michael Blakemore and Greta Scaachi are good as the city couple, and Kerry Fox and John Hargreaves (doing a damned good Eric Idle impersonation) are all pretty good. Sam Neill's character, though a necessity in the plot, I feel is somewhat needless here.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, no, Blur's 'Country House' is not in the movie.

Usually, I dislike plays adapted to a place & time other than those the author intended. Country Life (the title is from Chekhov's subtitle for Uncle Vanya, Scenes from Country Life) is a rare exception. Placed in the Australian outback in the 1920s, aspects of the play, such as the old man's writings (here, trashy theatre criticism, some of which is quoted) are as worthless as his academic treatises in the play; veneration for London (true in much of Oz, even today) makes clearer the play's characters' veneration for Moscow; etc. Blakemore, a fine stage director, knows his Chekhov, knows how to get the most of his actors (all of whom are excellent) and, to my happy surprise, knows how to make a sparkling, engrossing film from a play by Chekhov, which is very difficult (Mikhalkov is the only other one who has done it, in An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano). A thoroughly delight