Jeux dangereux

Although it has been quite some time since I have seen this film, I recall it being very intense, realistic, and well-acted. Rachel Ward in one of her best roles. Provocative subject matter, great setting/backdrop. Just a really good picture, NOT to be confused with a chick-flick. Even the husband truly enjoyed it.

'The Good Wife' is for those who like films that focus on an obscure little corner of the world and look at the feelings and foibles of the people therein. This time the camera is aimed at a small Australian town in 1939, where Marge Hills (Rachel Ward) feels that life is passing her by despite her work as a midwife and marriage to a loving husband. Nothing exciting ever happens to her, she thinks, and her attempts to make something happen get her into all sorts of small-town trouble.

Rachel Ward is such a beauty and has such a presence that I probably would have been content to watch her putter around the kitchen for ninety minutes at this stage of her career. Anyone familiar with Bryan Brown's work will not be surprised to hear that he is excellent in the role of Sonny, the husband. Steven Vider is also very good as Sugar, Sonny's younger brother, a youth so callow that he asks his brother if it's OK to sleep with his wife. Sam Neill is the newcomer to town whose attention Marge tries so desperately to get. A lot of people would describe this as a "little" film but I got more enjoyment out of it than many of its bigger brethren.

Rachel Ward gives an incredible performance in this movie of a woman so obsessed with a man, that she slowly loses all dignity and her standing in the community. This is a powerful movie but could have been much better if the scene where she sleeps with her husbands brother in the beginning was left out. I really think the movie could be improved if that scene, which has nothing to do with the events that follow, could be edited out. That scene makes Ward's character seem to be a sleaze and only hurts the main story. If you can fast forward through that, you will see a well respected woman who loses everything in pursuit of a real jerk. Oh, how truthful this film is.

After seeing this movie, I was prompted to write and comment, once again, about the roles that husbands are afforded in almost every movie w/ a love triangle. This film offers a stark illustration of this fact. For the sake of the story, we are asked to suspend disbelief and watch as every husband portrayed in the film, is cuckolded- & offers no instance of protest, or resistance. So let me get this straight- the " GOOD WIFE" in the film, is a lustful, amoral character- who presumably destroys her marriage to pursue a worthless cad. By itself, this isn't an unbelievable tale. My pet peeve however, is how the women's spouses are portrayed, in movies of this sort. The B. Brown character not only doesn't get angry, he offers his wife to his brother, excuses her behavior w/ the barman, and willingly, immediately, and w/out reservation, offers "instant forgiveness" to his cheating wife- another predictable staple for this character. The other husband in the movie who catches his wife w/ another man, reacts the same way. In other words, every husband is weak, ineffectual & too inadequate, to show anger, towards their straying wives! No, the women are all capable of destructive actions, but the husbands?- their reaction to these actions, is reserved, measured, & minimal at best. This character is essential to filmmakers, but is so prevalent, that it's becoming a cliché' within itself! The first film that actually offers a sympathetic, strong portrayal of a betrayed man, which by the way is the usual portrayal given to betrayed wives, will be a revelation. An actual male character who doesn't whine & weakly accepts his wife's cheating. One who decides that SHE is not worthy of him- would be a first! Instead we are faced w/ the same character- gutless, weak, no balls, and willing to accept any & all humiliations, for the sake of fantasy. By no means am I one of these right-wing, "defenders of families" freaks- but it's not hard to see that the portrayal of husbands in these movies, would give one pause. What reality are these filmmakers living in- & maybe, just once, they'll join ours!

"The Good Wife" is a film that seems to have a lot of quiet seductive power.... the story itself, which I found only minimally absorbing, is also somewhat lame and perhaps a bit goofy (Marge, a married woman, played by Rachel Ward, feels bored and unfulfilled in her rural Australian setting and first sleeps with her husband's younger brother, then begins to lust after a local barman played by Sam Neill...). However, the atmospheric setting, the scenery, the cinematography, the costumes, the characters, the enchanting background music - well, just about ALL elements of the film, are so rich and vibrant that they suck you right in, and more than make up for the rather daft story line.

Hence, "The Good Wife" is that sort of movie where you end up caring about the fates of the various players. You actually care about the denouement of the movie, because as the story unfolds, you really do start to care about the players as human beings, and you can't help but become interested in their individual destinies.

The creators of the film did an excellent job of recreating the look and feel of the time period of the story, which is set in 1939 Australia. I especially like the attention given to minute details that help to establish time and place and also give the movie a rich and full-bodied flavor. The eye-candy cinematography is just spectacular. This is easily one of the most "beautiful" movies I've ever seen. I'm glad I taped this movie off of a cable showing on TV. I will definitely be watching this one again!!