The usual babble

[angelophile]

Just got back from my sister's down in Devon. The family travelled down for my nephew's second birthday, which in my post-deadline lethargy was borderline overwhelming. Absolutely shattered now after being run ragged by family all day, but it was an enjoyable day and if I ever feel worthless I just need to remind myself how much my nephews and niece seem to like having me around (to the point of tears and trying to stop me leaving when we had to head home.)

Despite my tiredness, just what I needed after a hard deadline week.

In the last week I've managed to catch up with a couple of movie adaptations I've wanted to see in a long time. The adaptation of George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman novel "Royal Flash" and the movie version of "Man of La Mancha". I've mentioned Royal Flash already but a few additional comments and notes about "Man of La Mancha".

Both movies failed to deliver what I'd consider to be great adaptations, but both had their strong points and charm. With Royal Flash, Richard Lester would seem to be a good match for Flashman and when the swashes were being buckled, it whipped along nicely, as you'd expect from the director of the Musketeer movies. However, the project had a few drawbacks from the start - for me personally, Royal Flash is one of the less interesting Flashman novels - based less on real historical events and more as a pastiche of The Prisoner of Zenda.

So, rather than being packed with historical goodies, there's more in the way of parody and Lester played up to the slapstick comedy rather more than I'd like in a Flashman adaptation. A movie adaptation that chooses not to reference Flashman's inner monologue isn't doing itself any favors, since much of the joy of the books comes from Flashman clearly panicking inwardly while presenting a brave face to the world. Here, Malcolm MacDowell plays Flash as a nearly rodent-like, outwardly whining a whole lot so he never seems self-assured enough to explain why anyone would take him as anything but a whining coward and why women would fall for him.

The rest of the casting is a mixed bag too. Oliver Reed as Otto Von Bismarck is sublime, but Alan Bates lacks the playfulness required for a convincing Rudi Von Starnberg. It's nice to see British character actors such as Joss Ackland, Lionel Jefferies, Alistair Sim, David Jason, Bob Hoskins and others popping up in minor roles but MacDowell is simply miscast and the movie fails at the first hurdle.

So, interesting to see, but it's easy to see why it didn't spark a series of Flashman adaptations.

Likewise, the adapatation of Man of La Mancha is flawed but interesting. The stage musical uses the device of Miguel de Cervantes and his servant being imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition, and a manuscript by Cervantes seized by his fellow inmates, who subject him to a mock trial in order to determine whether the manuscript should be returned. Cervantes' defense is to invite the other inmates to assist him performing the story of Don Quixote - on stage a device that allows the story to be told without need for elaborate set changes. In film form this device is rather stifling, meaning that aside from a brief moment of windmill tilting, most of the action is restricted to an inn where Don Quixote's fantasies play out with the others there: thus he takes the scullery maid to be his muse Dulcinea, a barber's shaving basin to be a golden helm, a scuffle with some rogues a major battle and so on.

In play form this must work well, but part of the appeal of film is that it allows for settings to be opened out a lot more. The movie doesn't do this and by restricting the settings to gloomy interiors, it loses that cinematic feel. Thus as a movie it never quite gels.

On the other hand, the soaring score is undiminished by the cinematic experience ans such songs as Dulcinea, Man of Lan Mancha and, of course, The Impossible Dream, stand out superbly. The cast is strong - despite his lack of musical background, as an actor Peter O'Toole shines in the dual roles of Cervantes and Don Quixote, having the right gaunt and haunted look for both. Sophia Loren oozes bruised sexuality as Don Quixote's low born muse and James Coco makes much of his take on Sancho Panzo, despite his New Jersey twang. Then you have, again, stalwarts like Ian Richardson (showing a surprisingly strong singing voice) and Brian Blessed in supporting roles.

What the reason was for dubbing O'Toole's singing voice was it's not clear, although if quality was an issue, you have to wonder what prompted them to dub him with a singer who's not particularly strong either and some of the score isn't well served.

Likewise, the story of Don Quixote is so abbreviated by the length of the movie and the dual plotlines that you never quite get the chance to enjoy that part of the story and his chivalrous quest is limited to a few minor altercations in the inn setting. You'd have hoped a movie version would return to Cervantes' original text and add a little more in the way of action to flesh out the story and give a chance to enjoy the Spanish landscapes, but rather the whole movie remains rather chlaustophobic.

Not a failure, by any means, but rather a missed opportunity.