Review : HARLEQUIN (1980)

Originaltitel : Harlequin

Country : Australien

YeaR : 1980

Director : Simon Wincer

Cast : Robert Powell,David Hemmings,Carmen Duncan,Broderick Crawford a.o ..

Story :

Nick Rast is a Senator and an uprising star in politics.

He has everything others just dream about - a decent mansion, a cute and lovely wife and a beloved son.

Nick was able gained a lot of power in his political career, but apparently he has not the power to cure his son Alex from leukemia.

After Alex fell to a coma a mysterious stranger - Gregory Wolfe - appears on Nicks property and he starts to do some weird talking to, which sound like ancient spells.

The miracle takes place and Alex seems to be cured from cancer.

Gregory and Alex spend alot of time together and become close friends - the little boy is totaly fascinated by this mysterious man.

But Alex is not the only one who is attracted by Gregory - even Sandra, Nick's wife,  is like enchanted and starts to develop feelings for the magician.

Understandable that the Senator isnt very pleased about this circumstances.....

But Nick isnt as innocent as it may seems first : He has an affair with his personal secretary for a certain time( yep, the secretary cliche :)).

Doc Wheelan - Nick's political counselor - is also not very pleased about Gregorys presence, because Wolfe seems to know something he is not susposed to.

And this has something to do with the disappearing of Governour Eli Steele while he was snorkeling in the sea.

Things escalate when Gregory gets acussed of raping the housemaid and they put him in jail.

What lies under the surface of this all?

Is Gregory really a healer and mysterious psychic?

Or is he just a swindler who sets people under hypnosis to make them act like he wants them to?

Can the bars he got put behind hold him?

Was it all an illusion? 

Who was playing whom?

Can he reveal a big conspiracy? 

Did this go beyond reality, by making way for supernatural influences?

Rating : 

HARLEQUIN is a little Ozploitation Gem - a Mix of mild Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Drama & political Satire - which satisfies with a superb cast.

Director Simon Wincer(D.A.R.Y.L.,HARLEY DAVIDSON AND THE MARLBORO MAN,LIGHTNING JACK,CROCODILE DUNDEE IN LA,FREE WILLY) did a great job on this movie and when you take a look at the list of movies he directed it becomes clearly pretty quick that HARLEQUIN is he most decent work.

The complex script from Everett De Roche itself is serious and is heavy on its parallel theories, and it very much comes across like a poetic riddle (that's most of Powell's lines anyway) with it parables and psychic jargon.

The story does become incredibly strange with certain circumstances and situations, in which you have to suspend your disbelief and plays around with psychological tension. The thick air of mystery that's planted in the film, you could say is like a jigsaw puzzle that's missing some important pieces to give out all of what lies beneath the surface.

The Special FX,which are more rare in  this movie look great considering the age of the movie and the modest budget.

They are well orchestrated into the story, and takes it over-the-top in the third act were the pacing makes way for some flamboyant magic tricks.

The whole movie is carried by Robert Powell's charismatic appearance,so even if there would be less Special Effects or NONE at all, it still would be a great movie.

David Hemmings is great in the role of Senator Rast and there is no actor in the movie at all who would devalue this film.

The spooky but subdued Score,writen and composed by BRIAN MAY- who is NOT th Brian May from the Band QUEEN, like some may ssume now - is  like the icing on the cake and enhances the atmosphere of HARLEQUIN.

HARLEQUIN is even more fascinating, when one realizes that this is a retelling of the historical plot of the fall of the Czar of Russia.

In history, Nicholas (Nick in this film) and Alexandra (Sandra) had and extremely ill son, Alexander (Alex) and allowed the "Mad Monk" Gregory Rasputin (Gregory Wolfe) into the family with his promises of a cure for the the boy. 

Viewed from this point of view, this interesting enough B-movie becomes a fascinating study in parallels.

At the end of the movie there will be a few unanswered questions, but you will not be bothered by it at all.

After all, the supernatural leaves a lot of gaps for us to dwell on and come up with our own conclusions.

7,5/10 Riddles