DEAN SPANLEY: THE NEW ZEALAND DOG HAS YET ANOTHER DAY
March 11th 2009 08:05
Sam Neill as the titular Dean Spanley.
We in Australia look on with envy at New Zealand’s film industry. While the production line for quality Australian cinema has been reduced to a muddied trickle in recent years, across the Tasman the post Lord of the Rings environment has created a striking confidence. Dean Spanley is symbolic of this self-assurance. It’s a film that’s comfortable in its own strange skin, something that becomes all the more apparent when you realise the relative youth of the kiwi-dominated production team.
Adapted for film by Scottish screenwriter Alan Sharp from a 1930s short story by Lord Dunsany, Dean Spanley tells a strange Edwardian era tale indeed. Jeremy Northam plays London gent, Henslowe Fisk, who spends every Thursday with his cantankerous septuagenarian of a father, Fisk Sr. (Peter O’Toole). Henslowe, however, soon becomes distracted by the idea of reincarnation after dining with the titular Dean Spanley (Sam Neill). The dean is a peculiar individual who turns out to have a particular weakness for vintaged Hapsburg Imperial Tokay. After a mere sip of his favourite tipple, Spanley remembers with great clarity what seems to have been a previous life… as a dog. As Henslowe becomes more fascinated he organises further dinners with the dean, enlisting the help of a local conveyancer Wrather (Bryan Brown) to source more bottles of the rare Tokay.
While this may sound like a bizarre film about canines, Dean Spanley isn’t really a dog film. Rather, this is a film about the broken relationship between a father and a son. Fisk Sr. is a cynical and argumentative grump, emotionally atrophied by his elder son’s death in the Boer War. Henslowe is determined to connect with his father and bring about some sort reckoning with the past, thus allowing a way for both Fisks to move on from the tragedy. It’s here that Spanley’s tales of olfactory delight and moon chasing may have greater consequences than Henslowe first realised.
As eccentric as this tale is, it’s presented in a very straight fashion by Sharp and young director Toa Fraser. Sharp’s screenplay is almost clinical in its structure, the work of an expert and seasoned hand. That’s not to say it’s perfect; in the early scenes proceedings move so slowly as to almost grind to a halt. Fraser’s direction in these scenes seems unconcerned with the languid pace and things aren’t helped by the at times excessively mannered interpretation. Likewise, editor Chris Plummer has seemingly gone easy on trimming the fat from the film. Ultimately, however, you get the feeling this is the case because the young production team knew of the stunning end game the screenplay possessed and were not willing to compromise the stunning catharsis of the final act by messing with initial setup.
Henslowe (Jeremy Northam) and Fisk Sr. struggle to see eye-to-eye in Dean Spanley.
Performances are top notch, with all of the players very much in tune with the oddball source material. Jeremy Northam uses his exceptional nuance to effectively display Henslowe’s absolute frustration with his cantankerous father while Peter O’Toole can’t be praised highly enough for his sublime contribution, particularly during the closing scenes where his character’s grief begins to flow like a raging torrent. Bryan Brown’s Wrather is a refreshing colonial counterpoint to the unselfconscious formality of the English characters and Sam Neill as the pivotal dean for the most part plays it beautifully straight. Having such an accomplished bunch of actors on board helps immeasurably to sell the film, particularly during the slight shakiness of the early parts.
While Dean Spanley certainly isn’t perfect, it is still highly accomplished film making and drips with confidence and quality, from the beautiful production design through the spot-on performances and right down to the quietly evocative score provided by The Muttonbirds’ Don McGlashan. Things do drag early on, but all is forgiven when Sharp and Fraser create a final act that through the clever use of metaphor eschews any mawkishness while remaining absolute in its catharsis.
Check out the trailer for Dean Spanley below:
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Mountain Fog
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
between your review and the trailer, though, it looks quite unique! Can't fault those actors, either... that's a good sniff Neill gives there!
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Matt Shea
Comment by Matt Shea