Ballad of Little Jo, The (1993)

reviewed by
Sarah M. Elkins


                            THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO
                       A film review by Sarah M. Elkins
                        Copyright 1993 Sarah M. Elkins

*THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO* -- 1993, drama, based on (the few known) historical facts

PLOT/KICK-OFF: Society woman Josephine Monaghan is kicked out by her father and heads out West to make a new life for herself. After escaping a rape attempt, she cuts her hair and dresses as a man (illegal at the time) so she can survive life in the mining camp she's trying to reach to make her fortune.

CHARACTERS/ACTING: Suzy Amis is totally believable as Jo in both parts (as well as the transition). Ian McKellen plays the cold, strange Percy who teaches Jo survival skills in the West and gets her out of mining. Bo Hopkins manages to give warmth to the part of bigoted, ignorant sheep herder Frank Badger, who gives Jo a job. David Chung gives a wonderfully subtle performance as "Tin Man" ("The correct pronunciation is "Tien Mahn" (sp?) he tells Jo with dignity), an escaped railroad laborer whom Jo later rescues from Frank's attempted lynching. It's a keen pleasure to watch him gradually lose his "grinning dumb Chinaman" act with Jo as they learn more about each other and lower their defenses, and then snatch it up again whenever Frank comes by. Writer-director Maggie Greenwald is generous with unspoken scenes: she allows characters to develop as much or more through looks and body language as dialog.

CINEMATOGRAPHY/FX: Uncompromising look at life in Montana in the 1860's; the viewer's impressions of the wide-open vistas and the stark surroundings Jo endures will suffer a bit on the small screen. Some of the scenes are annoyingly intercut in an attempt to be artistic, I guess, but for the most part the editing is straightforward.

SCORE/SOUND: We know it's a Western from the banjo and fiddle opening music as we watch Jo trudge along the "road." I liked the music; mostly instrumental, but some female folk/country-ish vocals.

VIOLENCE/GORE/LANGUAGE: As I said, uncompromising. Jo mars her face with a razor to complete her disguise; we also see a prostitute who has been slashed with a knife for refusing Percy's request for alternate sex, and a slain family of immigrants (victims of a cattle rancher/sheep herder range war); also a shoot-out.

SKIN/SITUATIONS: The most *tender* erotic scenes I've seen since *Autumn Moon* at the Toronto Film Festival last year. After all her years alone, Jo's feelings of longing and wistfulness at seeing (the gorgeous shot of) Tin Man washing in the river have quite an impact. The role reversal of seeing short-haired, rough Jo and Tin Man, with unbraided long silky black hair, in bed (both bare-chested) is intriguing.

ANALYSIS: I went afraid this movie would be cute, preachy or romanticized; happily, it greatly exceeded my expectations. This movie is not flawless, but the unexpected irony (the audience laughed out loud several times) and gentle humor, plus the depth of characterizations of Jo and the others, make this movie worth watching, if you can take the upsetting scenes (not gratuitous!) mentioned above. I liked the ending, too.

- Sarah Elkins (elkins.wbst139@xerox.com)

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