reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (10/30/84)
"Phar Lap" is an Australian film about a race horse. I'm
not a big horse fan myself, so I didn't exactly rush to see this
film. When I did get around to it (it was showing just before a
preview), "Phar Lap" turned out to be yet another tradition-of-
quality style Australian film. For those unfamiliar with the
term, "tradition of quality" was a phrase much bandied about in
Hollywood in the thirties and forties, particularly in regard to
the films of MGM, if memory serves. The phrase expressed a cer-
tain approach towards filmmaking characterized by lavish profes-
sionalism and stories which a mogul could boast of to women's
groups. Films like "Little Women", "David Copperfield", "The
Barretts of Wimpole Street", and "Ah, Wilderness" are good exam-
ples. Such films were often quite fine, but also lacked a cer-
tain adventurousness found in movies which were less concerned
about whether they gave offense. Contrasting these films to "The
Maltese Falcon", "Scarface", and "Stagecoach", from the same
period, should give you an idea of the distinction.
At any rate, Hollywood is no longer in the tradition-of-
quality business, but Australia seems to be taking up the slack.
There's a steady flow of pretty, uncontroversial period films
coming up from Down Under, such as "My Brilliant Career", "We of
the Never-Never", and now, "Phar Lap".
"Phar Lap" is based on the true story of one of the greatest
of all race horses. Phar Lap was born in New Zealand, and,
despite promising ancestry, looked like a sure loser. His early
training period and first few races gave hope of no better. Sud-
denly, though, he began winning and kept winning, despite tremen-
dous odds. The Australian racing association kept burdening him
with greater and greater handicap weights, to the point where it
was feared that the weight would kill him. His owners raced him
at almost every opportunity, giving him little time to rest.
None the less, Phar Lap kept winning, and became one of the Aus-
tralian public's great favorites. Eventually, bookmakers tired
of losing money on Phar Lap even tried to kill him.
The story of Phar Lap is perhaps the best story to come out
of horse racing, infinitely better than the wish fulfillment
stuff propping up "National Velvet" and "The Black Stallion".
Never the less, "Phar Lap", the film, never comes up to the qual-
ity of those films. The screenplay is constructed without in-
spiration (by David Williamson), and first time director Simon
Wincer's debut is pallid. He manages a few good moments during
the races, but otherwise the film is weakly helmed. The photog-
raphy is pretty, the period detail (from the late twenties) is
proper but unexceptional. The score is too reminiscent of other
against-the-odds sports movies. A prerequisite for scoring this
sort of film should be an affidavit that the composer hasn't ever
seen either "Rocky" or "Chariots of Fire".
One of the hallmarks of tradition-of-quality was high quali-
ty (though low risk) acting, and the Australians have built up a
fine group of actors skilled in that style, several of whom are
on hand for "Phar Lap". Tom Burlinson (from "The Man From Snowy
River", a tradition-of-quality Australian western) is good as the
stable boy whose love for Phar Lap is amply requited. I suggest
that he make sure that his next acting assignment has nothing to
do with horses, however, as he's on the way to being typecast in
a role that isn't needed too often. Ron Leibman drops in from
the States to play the slightly sleazy owner of the horse. His
wife is the frequently seen Judy Morris, given little interesting
to do. The best part in the picture is that of the horse's
trainer, whose original dedication to Phar Lap was responsible
for the eventual triumph, yet who never really cares for the
horse and is willing to take chances with it to further his own
plans. Martin Vaughan gets the film's acting honors for this
role.
I've noticed that I mentioned a lot of other films in this
review. That's because "Phar Lap" is rather reminiscent of many
other films. It's a good enough entertainment which has some
nice moments, but the filmmakers really seem just to be going
through the paces. I can't picture any but the most devoted
horse lovers feeling very strongly about this film. In the hands
of one of Australia's many capable directors (Peter Weir, Fred
Schepsi, two different George Millers, among others), "Phar Lap"
might have been an unusually good film. As it is, "Phar Lap" is
another movie best seen on the bottom half of a double feature or
on cable.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher