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Harlequin (1980)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Everett De Roche (written by)
Release Date:
28 March 1980 (Australia)
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Tagline:
Can anyone survive? [USA ; Title as Dark Forces] more
Plot:
A modern-day politician is faced with an incomprehensible in this mystical-fantasy. Senator Rast is a very powerful man...
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Awards:
4 wins
&
6 nominations
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User Comments:
Well-made, unnerving thriller
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Robert Powell | ... | Gregory Wolfe | |
| David Hemmings | ... | Nick Rast | |
| Carmen Duncan | ... | Sandra Rast | |
| Broderick Crawford | ... | Doc Wheelan | |
| Gus Mercurio | ... | Mr. Bergier | |
| Alan Cassell | ... | Mr. Porter | |
| Mark Spain | ... | Alex Rast | |
| Alyson Best | ... | Alice | |
| Sean Myers | ... | Benny Lucas | |
| Mary Simpson | ... | Zoe Cayce | |
| Bevan Lee | ... | Mr. Robinson | |
| Neville Teede | ... | Dr. Barthelemy | |
| Mary Mackay | ... | Miss Edith Twist | |
| John Frawley | ... | Dr. Lovelock | |
| Nita Pannell | ... | Mabel Wheelan |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
95 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:16 |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:M |
Norway:15 |
UK:15 (re-rating) |
UK:X (original rating) |
USA:PG |
Germany:16
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The basic core of the film reworks two events from history. The central idea - charismatic mystic Gregory Wolf miraculously cures politician Nick and Sandra Rast's ill son Alex - mirrors the events in St Petersburg during the early part of the 20th century: Charismatic mystic Grigori Rasputin miraculously cured Tsar (an anagram of which is Rast) Nicholas II and Alexandra's ill son Alexei. Wolf's demise also echoes Rasputin's in 1916. Meanwhile the subplot of deputy governor Steele being lost at sea after seemingly drowning reflected the December 1967 incident where Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared whilst swimming and was subsequently presumed dead.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)
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I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for these weird supernatural-type stories (ie PATRICK, THE FURY, THE FURY WITHIN, 13 GANTRY ROW, THE SIXTH SENSE, UNBREAKABLE, BEDEVIL), and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's a relatively unassuming Australian film, released when this country's film industry was certainly NOT at its strongest (if you had a choice between a cheap Aussie thriller or, say, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, which would you choose?), it's a story of parallels. It opens up with what could be a reference to the drowning death of former PM Harold Holt, before embarking on a well-written updating of the legend of Rasputin and his extraordinary control over the last of the Russian Czars (no, there's no Anastasia here, kids). It has a particularly awful first half-hour, so try to stay with it through there. Rating: 6/10.