Author: Joe Bendel

By Joe Bendel. If her uncle had not been such an idiot, Elizabeth II never would have been Queen. Due to his dubious judgment, his brother’s daughter will soon ascend to the throne. The caddish Johnny Spence half-jokingly describes the days leading up to her coronation a period of monarch-less anarchy. It will indeed make a fitting backdrop for Charles Sturridge’s completely Anglicized adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s The Scapegoat, which airs in syndication on participating PBS stations, including Chicago’s WTTW this coming Saturday night.

John Standing has just been downsized out of a job as a boarding school teacher. With no family to support and lacking any significant ambitions or prospects, he sets out on a vaguely defined walking tour. Stopping at a seedy public house, he is startled to come face to face with his dead ringer, the wastrel Johnny Spence. After a night of imbibing with the charming but overbearing Spence, Standing is surprised to wake up and find the man has absconded with his anonymity, leaving him to take his position of wealth and privilege.

Unfortunately, Standing soon deduces that the Spence family fortunes are sagging. His doppelganger was hoping to save their glass foundry with a Hail Mary business deal, but he rather doubts the playboy pulled it off. However, he is quite charmed to meet the man’s spirited young daughter (Mary Lou, a.k.a. Piglet) and his nervous wife Frances. Conversely, he is quite uncomfortable around Nina, Spence’s sister-in-law with whom he seems to be having an affair with. Yet nobody seems to suspect his reluctant impersonation, not even his resentful brother Paul or their morphine addicted mother, Lady Spence. Frankly, the family might just be better off with the new and improved Johnny Spence, but the old one is still out there, up to no good.

Produced by ITV, Scapegoat is a nifty little thriller that had a spot of film festival play before its American television run. Transferred from the south of France to post-war Britain, Sturridge’s adaptation is tightly paced and uses the impending coronation as a clever metaphor. As the director of most of the beloved Brideshead Revisited miniseries as well as the masterful A Handful of Dust, Sturridge has a keen feel for Twentieth Century British period pieces. He displays a nice touch with Scapegoat, combining a Downton-esque vibe with film noir-ish elements.

Logically, Sir Alec Guinness (the master of multiple parts) had first crack at the Standing/Spence role in Robert Hamer’s 1959 feature film. Yet, Matthew Rhys (now probably best known for FX’s The Americans) steps into his shoes admirably well. In fact, this might be his strongest small screen work, eclipsing his suitably brooding John Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His Spence is charismatically wicked, but he also makes a convincingly confused and depressed everyman as Standing. Alice Orr-Ewing is a bit vanilla as poor Frances, but Andrew Scott (Jim Moriarty in Sherlock) adds some edgy energy into the mix as Paul Spence. Yet Sturridge’s wife and Brideshead co-star Phoebe Nicholls occasionally upstages everyone as the smart-than-her-employers housekeeper, Charlotte.

Altogether, The Scapegoat is quite cinematic by television standards. Handsome looking and intelligently written, it is definitely recommended for fans of Brit mysteries and literary dramas when it airs on select PBS stations later in the month.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on June 17th, 2013 at 12:52pm.

By Joe Bendel. It is an insidious tool used to control dissent, yet sometimes it comes as a relief. Whether voluntary or forced, separation from one’s homeland is a difficult proposition to face. Playwright John Guare explores the phenomenon in his new theatrical hybrid triptych, 3 Kinds of Exile, which officially opened this week at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater.

Exile’s first segment, Karel, quickly establishes the minimalist tone through a brief but captivating monologue. An unnamed actor relates the experiences of his friend, a former kindertransport refugee. Despite the success he found as an adult, the first exile’s guilt eventually manifests itself in a rather macabre fashion. While the Kafka influence here is inescapable, it is still an intriguing tale. Martin Moran (who has appeared in several of his own one-man shows) tells it with confidence, nicely conveying the drama and angst of his friend’s situation as a second-hand reporter.

The middle piece of Exile will likely generate the most attention in the theater world, because it represents the first time the playwright has performed in his own play. In fact, Elzbieta Erased is all about stage and screen history, telling the mostly sad history of Elzbieta Czyzewska. Once one of Poland’s most acclaimed thespians, Czyzewska marriage to American journalist David Halberstam directly led to her exile and a sometimes brilliant but decidedly erratic career Off-Broadway, well before Off-Broadway was cool.

Essentially, Erased is a dramatic A-V presentation adapted from a previous Guare one-act, featuring the writer and Polish actor Omar Sangare detailing the trials and tribulations of Czyzewska’s life. However, it takes on unexpectedly heavy significance when both men start to reveal their connections to Czyzewska. In fact, it is hard to imagine a production of Exile without them. Sangare is an electric stage presence and Guare is the veritable personification of erudite sophistication. Hearing their tribute to Czyzewska is completely absorbing and genuinely moving, even with the pseudo-lecture hall staging.

Exile ends with a spot of musical theater, albeit of a somewhat absurdist variety. Inspired by his work, Funiage turns the spotlight on the Polish novelist Witold Gombrowicz. Not particularly well regarded at home, Gombrowicz accepts an offer to lecture Argentina’s Polish expatriate community on the greatness of proper Polish literature, on the eve of World War II. The expats did not think much of him either, but at least there were women to carouse with on the ship.

Ironically, Funiage is the most upbeat segment of Exile, even though it deliberately echoes Weil & Brecht’s productions. Indeed, Gombrowicz is an attractive figure, who was evidently largely satisfied working as a Buenos Aires bank clerk by day and writing in relative obscurity at night. David Pittu (who played Brecht in the Broadway musical LoveMusic) is wildly charismatic as Gombrowicz, while also expressing a sad, world weary earnestness.

Of course, Guare is best known as the writer of Six Degrees of Separation, which factors prominently in Elzbieta Erased. 3 Kinds of Exile is more avant-garde in form than his signature work, but the stories are still easily accessible and immediately engaging. There are some deep truths in each piece, as well as several dynamic performances.  Recommended for slightly adventurous patrons, it runs through June 23rd at the Linda Gross Theater.

Posted on June 13th, 2013 at 3:49pm.

By Joe Bendel. Widely feared for their decapitation weapons, the Guillotines consider themselves the Emperor’s A-team for sensitive missions. Unfortunately, they find out they are simply expendable crewmen in Andrew Lau’s The Guillotines, which opens this Friday in New York.

Wolf is the ironically named leader of the rebellious shepherd gang, who seems to think his fate is connected to that of Leng, the Guillotines’ trusted squad leader. With Wolf imprisoned and scheduled for execution, Leng pays little heed to his captive’s mumbo jumbo. Unfortunately, a daring rescue operation frees Wolf, in the process taking prisoner Musen, their comrade and daughter of their revered commander.

Obviously, this is a black eye for the Guillotines, but it gets worse. The emperor has decided to sacrifice the Guillotines on an ostensive clean-up mission. As it happens, Leng is well acquainted with the man charged with his team’s destruction. He and Agent Du were recruited as young children to faithfully serve the emperor. While Du remains unswervingly committed to the royal sovereign, Leng feels a stronger kinship with his team. Ironically, he finds temporary shelter with his old nemesis, Wolf.

Considering the wicked, Krull-like weapons sported by the Guillotines, this pseudo-Shaw Brothers remake is surprisingly stingy with the martial arts throwdowns. Frustratingly, most of the action consists of large set piece massacres of Wolf’s ragtag contingent, which are really not much fun at all.

Indeed, The Guillotines follows in a long line of historical dramas that not so subtly suggest a strong centralizing authority is in the national interest because it provides stability. Of course, this is an attractive argument if you happen to be part of that centralized power structure. Still, the film incorporates the traditional Han and Manchu conflict in intriguing ways.

As Leng and Du, Ethan Juan and Shawn Yue develop a nice Cain-and-Abel tension, while Li Yuchun convincingly renders Musen’s awakening of conscience. In contrast, the rest of the Guillotines, though introduced individually in the cool credit sequence, are not meaningfully delineated as characters.

Frankly, there are just too many scenes of terrified peasants fleeing the Imperial war machine, followed-up with precious little payoff. It is a quality period production, but there is too much message and not enough old school entertainment. A disappointment for martial arts fans, The Guillotines opens this Friday (6/14) in New York at the IFC Center.

LFM GRADE: D+

Posted on June 13th, 2013 at 3:48pm.