The murder in 1943 of Sir Harry Oakes remains unsolved. It was a gruesome and sensational crime, committed in The Bahamas, where Oakes (an American by birth, but made an English baronet to reward his philanthropy) was the richest inhabitant. The case has been the subject of several books - one of them by the spy writer James Leasor - and Marshall Houts' account is the basis for the 1983 film Eureka.
When I learned that the director of Eureka was none other than Nicolas Roeg, I guessed that the film would be virtually stunning (it was) and that it was likely to be far from a straightforward retelling of the events surrounding Oakes' death. And it's fair to say that Paul Mayersberg's screenplay strays a long way away from reality.
The early part of the film is set in the snowy wastes of the Yukon. Jack McCann (Gene Hackman, at his best) is prospecting for gold. And eventually, in strange and dramatic circumstances, he finds it. We then fast-forward twenty years to find him on his island, complete with wife (Jane Lapotaire) and married daughter (Theresa Russell, at her most glamorous). Unfortunately he hates his son-in-law Claude (Rutger Haute). McCann is the film's version of Oakes, while Claude is a version of Alfred de Marigny.
The film was a flop at the box office but now it's something of a cult classic and Danny Boyle rates it very highly indeed. Viewed simplistically as a true crime story, it's hopeless - the courtroom scene in which Claude cross-examines his wife is risible. But this is a film which looks really good and which explores character and the corrupting effect of the love of money in quite an interesting way. An interesting failure, I'd say.
No comments:
Post a Comment