WHITE MISCHIEF
(and "Words")
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1988 Jeff Meyer
WHITE MISCHIEF (Great Britain, 1987)
Director: Michael Radford Screenwriters: Michael Radford, Jonathan Gems; based on the book WHITE MISCHIEF by James Fox Cast: Joss Ackland, Greta (hubba-hubba) Scacchi, Charles Dance, Sarah Miles, John Hurt, Susan Fleetwood, Geraldine Chaplin, Trevor Howard
I've been trying to think of whether to classify this as a drama, comedy or mystery; instead, I think I'll just label it "British" and leave it at that. Brother, is it British -- cliche British throughout, though that seems to be the intention. The story centers around a beautiful young woman (Scacchi) who marries a much older landowner (Ackland) for his money in 1940 and travels with him to his estates in Kenya. Here, the war is incredibly distant; there are no shortages and most people are living decadently, if not hedonistically. An odd group of characters reside there, and in the center is a statuesquely handsome rake (Dance) who has had affairs with almost all the sought-after British women in the colony. He seeks after the young wife almost immediately, and they become lovers in a stereotypically formal British manner. The elder husband tries to ignore being cuckolded in his best old-boy manner, but soon he realizes he has lost her to his younger competition.
Suddenly, the younger man is found murdered in his car, and the husband is brought to trial. The rest of the film deals with the aftermath of the murder and the revelation of who the murderer is. The resolution is not particularly satisfying, nor does it make much sense; but that's not the appeal of the film.
WHITE MISCHIEF's greatest appeal is to put a series of veteran British actors before the camera in rather bizarre roles, and give them witty lines to deliver for 90 minutes. There are some wonderfully quotable bits here, the kind that used to be delivered in sophisticated drawing room mystery/comedies. The film would almost fit into the proper British mysteries of Tey, Christie and the like, but there really are no sympathetic characters. The young wife is mercantile, the husband rather pathetic, the lover imperiously superior, and his ex-mistresses are loony (though Sarah Miles carries the day when on screen). The only two neutral characters are Hurt, as a rich farm owner who has gone "native," and the late Trevor Howard as the elder husband's rather pachyderm-like friend. The main point, though, is the bizarre humor, mostly resulting from everyone's exaggerated stiff-upper-lip manner. By the end of the film, the events of the film have driven the young wife almost around the bend.
But in a proper manner, of course.
LINER NOTES: The young African boy whose face closes out the film is, by coincidence, the same actor who played the innocent protagonist of THE KITCHEN TOTO. Seems to add extra symbolism to the end.
Short: WORDS by Chuck Workman (USA, 1987)
Last year, Chuck Workman put together clips of over three hundred films into a short named PRECIOUS IMAGES for the celebration of the Director's Guild. It was one of my favorite shorts, and is a real treat for any movie lover. This year, he has another one for the Screen Writer's Guild, filled with 235 famous lines from film and TV over the last sixty years.
Does anyone know where I could buy a tape with either PRECIOUS IMAGES or WORDS on it (preferably both)? I'd love to have a copy of this at home.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
INTERNET: moriarty@tc.fluke.COM
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