A film review: Nicolas Roeg's "Eureka" [1983, UK / USA]

For a long time, it had been fashionable for critics to trash every Nicolas Roeg film made after "Bad Timing". Thankfully, we now have a whole new generation that's not only rediscovering his later films, but also reevaluating them within the context of his entire body of work. "Eureka" (1983), partly inspired by a true story, was the first of his 'later' films to be routinely overlooked due to the changing expectations of a fickle audience.














The film follows the fortunes of Jack McCann (Gene Hackman), a perseverant gold prospector made good after striking it rich in the frozen wilderness of Canada. Split into three distinct parts, the first part of the film is dedicated to McCann's heroic quest amongst the debris of broken hearts and shattered spirits that came seeking fortune before him. The surreal journey he undertakes takes on a mythic proportion as elements of magic and providence are woven into the narrative.

The film fast forwards twenty years into the future immediately after, where McCann is the wealthiest man in the world, watching helplessly as his daughter Tracy (Theresa Russell) falls madly in love and marries a handsome idler named Claude (Rutger Hauer) - he suspects that Claude might have married her only for the money.

Around the same time, Miami businessman Mayakofsky (Joe Pesci) wants to convince McCann into selling his Caribbean island named Eureka to set-up a Vegas-style casino town, with the help of McCann's close associate Charlie Perkins (Ed Lauter), and using his lawyer-sidekick Aurelio D'Amato (Mickey Rourke) as the go-between. He devices dubious methods to obtain the property, but McCann isn't interested in selling it.

The final part of the film deals with the aftermath of McCann's horrific murder and the shoddy trial that ensues when Claude is accused of murdering his father-in-law. Claude argues his own defence by calling in Tracy as a witness, but will learn to his discomfort that Tracy, far from being his 'trophy' wife, was the one to initiate the seduction - it was she who chose him, rather than the other way around.

Tracy defends his innocence by proclaiming his incapacity to hold any true convictions in life, let alone love. Through her courtroom testimony, she also summarises her slain father's life with a surprising insight that will go some distance in completing the portrait of the real McCann behind the adventurer and doting father of the first two parts of the film...

 

Defending "Eureka":
If this event-rich film would've started off as an action adventure, and progressed into a tragedy-filled family melodrama, some critics would've probably been satisfied with its outcome, and perhaps even an Oscar red-carpet would have beckoned if a 'final justice' of sorts for the tragedy had been served.

But this is a Nicolas Roeg film - whose stylised film narrative and surreal moments, briefly interspersed with tantalising, but brilliant glimpses into the psychological, philosophical, and mystical aspects of the human psyche - into reasons behind motives, are as adored and appreciated in films like Walkabout and Don't Look Now. "Eureka" is no different in its approach from his other better appreciated films, and it is baffling to come across arguments that suggest that Roeg could've gone about it differently.

For Roeg, finer details, or even the plausibility of a plot had always been secondary; instead he was more interested in the effect that events have on the characters concerned. McCann is a man of action and very few words, and once his destiny of finding gold was complete, there was nothing left for him to achieve - in his own words, "Once I had it all. Now I just have everything". Hence there was need for a mouthpiece - Tracy in this instance, to elucidate McCann's reasons for struggling to negotiate his remaining days.

There's a reason why twenty years of his life following the gold discovery is not shown. The film is essentially about the leftover part of McCann's life; it is not about seeing him accumulate wealth, get married and purchase whole islands. Also, without going into the details, the cryptic final scene with 'unanswered questions' is indeed typical of Roeg. You're free to interpret and judge the characters appearing in the final scene in your own way; all that Roeg wants to convey is that Eureka "will be given away". Considering the problems the film faced during its distribution, we don't know if the final cut that we see is also the way Roeg intended, but even as it stands, this is an exceptional (and woefully underrated) film by Nicolas Roeg that's Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon Blu-ray + DVD Link
I'm thankful for this excellent Blu-ray release - the copy I had so far was a poorly transferred letterboxed NTSC DVD. It is about time the rest of Nicolas Roeg's films are also remastered and brought back to life for a new audience.

 

The Nudity: Theresa Russell, Rutger Hauer, Emma Relph, and Ann Thornton
Theresa Russell is at her most elegant and sensual self in this film, and also appears nude or partially nude in at least five scenes. For a Dutchman, Rutger Hauer's diction is impressive, and he too appears nude in one scene. Emma Relph and Ann Thornton play wives of colonial British officers who get more than they bargained for after Claude takes them to an outlandish 'voodoo orgy', if ever there was one, where an uncredited actress is also seen trying to swallow or do some harm to a hapless python - bloody expats! :-)



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Theresa Russell & co in "Bad Timing" [1980 UK]

The 1980 film, "Bad Timing" is arguably the last masterpiece by the great Nicolas Roeg. He has of course made some fine films later, but none of them reach the heights set here, be it the characterisation, direction, or the editing - one can devote entire articles to each of the above features - so much to see and appreciate. Add to this Anthony Richmond's excellent cinematography, the eclectic soundtrack, and not least the superlative performance by actors playing the main characters - Harvey Keitel is brilliant, singer/songwriter Art Garfunkel sincere, and Theresa Russell captivating - you can see they were all 'a team' while making this film. Not often do I find it hard to describe how good a film actually is - even after second viewing, new information keeps sinking in.

About the film:
It's essentially a study of two characters with conflicting interests, in love - in retrospect they shouldn't have even met. Milena, a young American - married but carefree, meets Alex - a judgemental, possessive and older compatriot, and a visiting lecturer of psychoanalysis. Set in the Austrian capital Vienna, the film captures their mutual obsession and contradictions, and the tragic consequences. And this is done beautifully using short and sharp vignettes, flashing back and forth in time, like memory, as if 'remembering someone from the past'. Mr. Roeg gives an interesting explanation in the DVD extras for the reason behind this unique style of his - bewildering at times with those splintered edits, but which all makes perfect sense towards the end. He tells a story so succinctly, feeding audience just enough information at any given time to keep their attention - I reiterate what I mentioned in an earlier article. The film also uses symbolism to embellish its character study, notably through book titles and artworks (aptly Viennese, like Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele). Surprisingly, the film with such a controversial subject was produced by the rather conservative Rank Organisation, even if they refused to put in their gong man logo during the film's opening credits.

I'd readily recommend the NTSC Criterion Collection DVD over any other version for the sheer quality of transfer and the loaded extras. There is an absorbing interview with the great man Nic Roeg himself, and also some candid thoughts from his ex-wife and star of the film, Theresa Russell. She gives an outstanding performance as the wild orchid Milena - she's also incredibly cute and sexy! This was the first time the twenty one year old Russell had worked with Roeg, and they obviously hit it off, on and off stage. Needless to say, Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.com DVD Link




Compilation: Theresa Russell, Ellan Fartt, Dana Gillespie, and unknown actress
It's impossible to give a scene guide for this compilation that would make sense, as each of them is inter-cut with flashbacks and flash forwards - you just have to watch it. I've also inserted a couple of non-nude but sexy scenes in between, notably that of Russell and Garfunkel scene in the car when she (unintentionally) spills the schnapps she was drinking over her dress - the dialogue was not in the script but used nevertheless, and the shocked Garfunkel's expression in it is priceless. I've also edited out a few seconds of nudity that could have given too much of the plot away, especially in the final scene when Milena is raped whilst approaching coma.






Bonus Scene: Clips of Deleted Scenes from the DVD extras
A couple of deleted scenes here - they don't have sound, and have also not been remastered, for obvious reasons.






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Theresa Russell in "Hotel Paradise" [1996 UK, Germany]

British director-cinematographer Nicolas Roeg had also worked in several US productions, but I'll be focusing on his predominantly UK and European filmography for this blog.

Nicolas Roeg, in brief:
His was one of the most magnificent careers in British cinema, starting as an apprentice and working his way upwards to become a cutting-edge film-maker. By the time he got to direct his first film, he already had over twenty years of industry experience. He never did film school, but is a great master of cinema, exquisitely mixing his narrative to give the audience information only when he feels they're ready for it, expecting them to put the pieces back together on their own - he's one man who can force you to sit through his films. His classics such as The Man Who Fell to Earth, Don't Look Now, and Bad Timing, to randomly pick a few, speak volumes of his artistry and understanding of the medium. He remains one of my favourite British directors, even as I prefer his ground-breaking and innovative earlier work. For those wanting to know about Mr. Roeg through proper film historians, here's the link.

I'll ease Roeg into the blog with his 1996 short and sexy film, "Hotel Paradise" - conveniently hidden in my DVD "Erotic Tales volume 3" (from which "Diabelska Edukacja" was also compiled). Roeg cast his then wife, American actress Theresa Russell as the bride opposite a young Vincent D'Onofrio.

Storyline:
The bride wakes up naked from drunken stupor to find herself in a hotel room, handcuffed to the bedpost, and a stranger sleeping beside her. It is her wedding day, the only thing she remembers from last night was trying on her bridal dress and having some champagne. She manages to locate the key to free herself, and promptly handcuffs the naked stranger in her bed, lest he wakes up. She spends a good part of the film trying to locate her clothing - her only intention is to get dressed and leave the room. She is not interested in knowing what happened the night before, and ignores whatever the stranger has to say after waking up. But the stranger is already in love even though he doesn't know her name yet, and now has his task cut-out to convince her to also love him before she leaves the room. He keeps talking - handcuffed and naked - he has no other means to change her mind. Most of what he says is rubbish, but it is sincere and endearing, and we end up liking the b*stard. But will the bride who's about to get married also feel the same..?

This is a surprisingly beautiful and sexy number as I wasn't expecting much from Roeg while he was making some rather mediocre stuff at the time. The cinematography and lighting is superb and the direction spotless, even if the dialogues sound at times like a BBC radio book-reading. What's also amazing is, it is erotic despite there being no depiction of actual lovemaking. The early scenes of the voluptuous Theresa Russell are among the sexiest I've seen in a while, reminding me of Marina Pierro from Walerian Borowczyk's "Les Héroïnes du Mal". This is a true 'nude scene classic' worth every penny, even more so when you've an amazing deal going on Amazon.de at the time of this post. Forget about the description which is from a different volume - as long as you have volume 3, you're alright.
Amazon.de DVD link




Compilation: Theresa Russell
Made from some of the juiciest bits from the film. A scene guide is not necessary as the dialogues are in English.





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