South Pacific

I found the DVD of this version of South Pacific at my local public library. Glenn Close has never been one of my favorites, she has hard, pointy looks that made her perfect for roles where she plays a hard, mean woman. She doesn't really fit my image of what Nelly Forbush should look like. Still, she has a good stage singing voice and she does a credible job here. I especially like the job Harry Connick Jr did. He is the most believable actor.

This film looks like a film, not a stage production, and there is relatively little singing. Near the end, there is some legitimate war action with the Japanese on an adjacent island. Overall a very enjoyable film version of South Pacific. I rate it "7" of 10.

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.

Seldom does one get a chance to see a musical in which EVERYONE'S VOICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DUBBED--and most of the charm has been so diluted as to be invisible.

And that's just one of the shortcomings of this awful, uninspired remake of 'South Pacific' with some hopelessly miscast performers trying hard to look convincing in singing roles beyond their scope. Once again, the great original score of Rodgers and Hammerstein is rendered by such inept orchestrations and weak voices that it makes you wish there was a Society for the Protection and Integrity of Original Broadway Musicals.

Glen Close is not only physically miscast, her voice lacks the rich quality the song numbers deserve. Likewise for her male co-star, utterly lacking the continental charm of either Ezio Pinza or Rossano Brazzi. I have never seen a worse Bloody Mary than the actress who does her own singing (as opposed to Juanita Hall in the '58 movie) but to no avail whatsoever, throwing away the beautiful 'Bali Hai' in a shameful manner. It's hard to work up any enthusiasm for Harry Connick, Jr.'s rendition of 'Younger Than Springtime', another beautiful song that deserves to be sung in full-bodied fashion by a singer-type like Vic Damone in his prime.

Absolutely the worst movie musical remake in memory, with nobody up to the demands of either the script or the vocals. Mercifully, Rodgers & Hammerstein are not around to watch this travesty.

And I thought the 1958 movie was bad enough...

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.

This is what many cultured people should call "a true desecration of a classic." They ruined this musical from what it was supposed to be! Glenn Close is obviously far too old to be playing a twenty-something year old. She's a decent singer but her singing was terrible for this role. The filmmakers obviously needed to cast someone much younger who could sing. A young woman could carry this role convincingly, Glenn Close could not. Glenn Close was not at all convincing in this role because she was too old. Harry Connick Jr. was probably the best part of this whole desecration. He can carry a tune, but his singing is not the greatest.

Overall this movie was utter nonsense, and they trashed it up even! Why do filmmakers think that they can remake classics? These days filmmakers are stupid in thinking that they can modernize classics and turn them into trash in order to please the stupid people. If you are a purist for musicals, do not see this movie for your own good.