DARK FORCES aka HARLEQUIN DVD Review

What is it with retitling Australian movies for the US market? I can make sense of it when you're talking about different languages, but from English to English? Last week I reviewed "Strange Behavior", of which the Australian version had the title "Dead Kids", and this week I review "Dark Forces", of which the Australian version had the title "Harlequin".

I didn't mind it so much last week as I thought the US-version actually had the better title, but this time it's different.
Because "Dark Forces" is a very generic name for a very un-generic thriller, while "Harlequin" more or less sums it up nicely (so I'll keep calling it that). The movie itself is a bag of tricks, defying each genre you try to fit it in. When forced to come up with one I'd call it a supernatural thriller, but "Harlequin" encourages you (challenges, even) to try and debunk the supernatural aspect. And this film definitely is worth looking close enough at to do some scrutinizing.


More after the break...

The Story:

Senator Nicholas Rast is preparing to become deputy governor, giving press conferences while his wife takes care of their son Alex who is dying of leukemia. The boy's impending death makes his ninth birthday party a gloomy affair, but the impossible happens: the clowning magician who was hired for the event also turns out to be a faith healer, and he miraculously cures Alex.

Taking full advantage of the situation, the enigmatic trickster (named Gregory Wolfe) stays on as a guest at the Rast residence and becomes a valued member of the household. But even though Rast's wife and son are delighted, the tricks Gregory performs become more and more mischievous, and the flamboyant magician's presence becomes aggravating to Rast. It doesn't take long before Gregory Wolfe makes Rast's political masters very nervous, especially because he keeps making jokes about the previous deputy governor's disappearance...


The Movie:

Although it is another one of the recent Oz-sploitation titles from Synapse, when you look at "Dark Forces" it doesn't really scream Australia. Like "Strange Behavior" (aka. "Dead Kids", reviewed last week) there has been made a lot of effort to make this seem like an American or English production. Of the main parts only Rast's wife and son are actually played by Australians.

Not that it matters as the exact whereabouts of the story remain carefully hidden, the implication being that this could be anywhere, at any time.
Well, at least any time at the end of the seventies, judging by people's clothes an tastes, but you get what I mean. Basically a modernized re-telling of the Rasputin story, "Harlequin" tells a story about a politician's run-in with a possibly supernaturally gifted stranger, resulting in... ehm... the end of the world as we know it? Disillusionment? A vaguely uncomfortable feeling?
Unfortunately, this is where the movie stumbles a bit.

Senator Nicholas Rast certainly learns a thing or two about his political allies by the end of the film, but the character of Gregory Wolfe remains such an enigma that it leaves "Harlequin" with a funny aftertaste, like "what the hell was THAT all about?". Plans have obviously been dashed but as you didn't get to know what those plans were, you don't feel too involved at the end. It's fun while it lasts but after many appetizers (and a dessert or two) you wonder what happened to the main course.

Still, it's not like the end result is anything like a total toss. There is so much to enjoy here but it all feels a bit squandered in the end, and that 's a shame because it prevents this movie from becoming a true classic.

First and foremost, the acting is very good. The role of Gregory Wolfe seems to fit Robert Powell like a (sequined) glove and he delightfully hams it up for all it's worth. But no less impressive, if less flashy, is David Hemmings' portrayal of Nicholas Rast. A typical politician, Rast is both a perfect host and a coward, and maybe even a bit corrupt. Late in the movie, Hemmings surprisingly manages to make him likable, even while keeping that background intact!
A damn(ed?) fine performance. You can't wait to see how the relation between these two will finally resolve.

But the other actors are good as well. Carmen Duncan has a few key moments where she impresses (although she gets underused in the second half) and the grand Broderick Crawford can be seen here in one of his last roles as Doc. Wheeler, Rast's political mentor who is Wolfe's mortal enemy from the moment they meet.
It's the sparring between all of these people which makes up the meat of this movie, and fine meat it is too.

The movie is also cleverly staged. For example: at the start of the movie Rast's son Alex is bald because of chemotherapy. After his miraculous healing, the length of his hair is used to indicate the passage of time (instead of inserts like "One month later..."). As for how bad his disease actually is, when Alex makes a remark about "next year", his mother's expression, hidden from her son, leaves no doubt about his chances to get that far.
It's intelligent little things like that which gives me as the audience the feeling that I am treated respectfully, and deemed capable of thought.
(A note for parents: the first ten minutes of this movie have a few scenes that are remarkably heartwrenching and got to me. You have been warned!)

This is all lensed nicely in widescreen, using bright colors. Not so fine are the special effects, even when judged by 1980's standards. Director Simon Wincer made the interesting decision to film most of the magician's party tricks as real tricks, in long single shots, while such tricks would be of course far easier to perform if they consisted of several shots. But this contrasts in an ugly way with the suggested "real" magic Gregory does, as you can clearly see the fake effects which then had to be used. Together with the electronic score this dates the movie in a bad way, but its strengths are such that it doesn't hurt too much.


Conclusion about the movie:

"Harlequin" is a curious thriller which at times fails to make its point clear but nevertheless remains remarkably engrossing, primarily because of the very good acting by all persons involved. So even though the pay-off is puzzling (is there any?) and the film is a bit dated, it is also quite recommended.


On to the DVD:

Synapse has released "Harlequin" under its US title "Dark Forces" (logically, since they're US based) as a regionfree disc, so anyone with the ability to watch an NTSC-signal can apply.

Video is very impressive. I was first worried by the large amount of grain in the picture (it starts with a telezoomed-in outdoors shot) but as the film progressed, I couldn't help but admire the image quality. Aspect ratio is correct (important in this film), colors are fine, contrast is very good and the image is very sharp for a film that's nearly thirty years old. There are some damage-artifacts but seriously nothing to get worked up about, you only notice them because they are so rare.
The sound is good too: you get English, Spanish and French mono tracks. I've listened to the English one (duh..) and I had no issues with it, it's a fine mono track.

What? No subtitles? RANT!!!!
Or, well, I would like to rant, but when I did that last week Jerry from Synapse contacted us and explained the difficulties they had in making it economically viable to put subs on these discs. His remarks rang sad but true so I'll just gnash my teeth in silence.

As for extras, this disc has a couple of nice ones.
First there is the commentary by director Simon Wincer and producer Antony Ginnane. It's not a particularly warm or funny commentary track, but still a quite informative one. Ginnane remarks how succesful this film was which surprised me as I always thought this was a bit of a hidden gem.

Secondly there is the isolated track for the film's dated but atmospheric score by famed composer Brian May, who (amongst many other things) also made the soundtracks for the first two "Mad Max" movies. Again, this is the sort of extra I like.

Trailers for "Dark Forces", "Strange Behavior", "Thirst", "Patrick" and "Syngenor" are on the disc, as are filmographies for all major players involved.


Conclusion about the DVD:

Fans of the movie don't need to look any further: there is no reason for not buying this disc.