Far East is just a reminder of how the 80's brought out fine Aussie films, while America just churned films out. We have basically two stories here that conflict in the second half. Bryan Brown being Bryan Brown, runs a sleazy bar in the Phillipines, where young, some really young, half clad phillies get their asses wigging and tits flapping to bar music (some tunes brought back memories) sort of acting as an agent you could say, with his pretty Asian partner and wife. In walks an old flame (Morse-really good) with new hubby journalist (Shakespearian king Bell) and memories and passion ignite, where soon they're making out, and taking baths together. Bell getting too close to the truth when investigation a poor worker's trade, among the ill fortunate of Asia, he's kidnapped by rebels, and as a favor to Morse, Brown brazenly hatches to get him and his woman informer, out of there, amongst explosions of gunfire, where you kind of get the feeling, they were watching their budget with this one, Filmco, an old Aussie production company behind it. Bell is really the film stealer here, where Morse sexes it up. Both are far better than Brown. It's hard to believe how little Bell done film wise, well may'be I think he just preferred theatre. The bedroom scene with his Asian wife early in the piece is quite hot, Browns fate, as the film climaxes, memorably tragic. Bill Hunter with a small part as a bar regular is pretty good too. A well made Aussie piece, with some well sought locations around Asia.
5 Reviews
Casablanca in Asia
jessewillis13 January 2000
Far East (1982) is another in the growing ranks of interesting new sub genre of Films. That is, it's another remake of the famous 1942 film Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lazlo. Far East joins the ranks of Casablanca remakes along with Cuba (1979), which starred Sean Connery and Brooke Adams and Caboblanco (starring Charles Bronson). But it is this Australian production set in what I presume to be Manila (in the Philippines) which is the most faithful to the original. Instead of Humphrey Bogart playing Rick Blaine the ex-pat American owner of "Rick's Café Américain" we have Bryan Brown playing Morgan Keefe as an ex-pat Aussie who owns a bar/nightspot called "The Koala Klub". "The Koala Klub" has a piano but no Sam to play it, I guess they don't remember that, so they make do with disco on the hi-fi. But it doesn't matter; this is in no way the swanky diggs like "Rick's", "The Koala Klub" caters only to assorted local and imported sleaze. All is right with the world, at least as far as can be in a corrupt backwater like Manila, when as they say "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, SHE walks into mine" she is Helen Morse in this case. Morse plays Jo Reeves an old Acquaintance of Morgan's. Her husband is an investigative reporter doing good deeds just like our Czech underground leader Victor Lazlo. But the local military government gives the Lazlo's... I mean the Reeves nothing but grief. So it's up to Rick... that is its up to Morgan to smooth things over for them. The final plane scene isn't a plane scene it's a boat scene, and there isn't a "beautiful friendship" that starts after the plane... I mean boat takes off. But it's Casablanca all right. Well, it is if you squint and if you've had a little too much gin. You must remember this? As time goes by... we appreciate the original more and more.
You couldn't pay me to visit a bar like that
wrightiswright30 December 2018
Oh, look! It's Tom Cruise's boss in Cocktail, and he's running another bar in the Philippines! In this one though, he employs scantily clad local girls to dance to some of the worst 80's obscure disco tunes the decade that fashion forgot threw up, and for some reason, it's a roaring success!
Bet, get this... his ex-lover is back in town. And, as you can tell by the poster, there's still a 'spark' there. She's married to a journalist who's looking to uncover some dirt on an illegal slavery racket, and needless to say: when the cats away, the mice will play. But when said journo gets kidnapped by corrupt local officials and he's the only one who can save his old flame's hubby, to say he's conflicted is putting it mildly.
Far East has a good final climax, which involves an action packed incursion into enemy territory and a bit of a shock ending. But to get there, you have to tolerate the tedious mooning of our central couple (Will they? Won't they? Who cares?) and some of the most awful excuses for dancing since John Sergeant was on Strictly. I don't think I'll be picking up the soundtrack, either. Bee Geez, what have you done?!
Final Verdict: It's okay, but get ready to roll your eyes and cringe. A lot. 5/10
Bet, get this... his ex-lover is back in town. And, as you can tell by the poster, there's still a 'spark' there. She's married to a journalist who's looking to uncover some dirt on an illegal slavery racket, and needless to say: when the cats away, the mice will play. But when said journo gets kidnapped by corrupt local officials and he's the only one who can save his old flame's hubby, to say he's conflicted is putting it mildly.
Far East has a good final climax, which involves an action packed incursion into enemy territory and a bit of a shock ending. But to get there, you have to tolerate the tedious mooning of our central couple (Will they? Won't they? Who cares?) and some of the most awful excuses for dancing since John Sergeant was on Strictly. I don't think I'll be picking up the soundtrack, either. Bee Geez, what have you done?!
Final Verdict: It's okay, but get ready to roll your eyes and cringe. A lot. 5/10
Worthy Australian remake of Casablanca
Filmtribute5 October 2001
Although there can never be any danger of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman being surpassed in Michael Curtiz' seminal version of the eternal romantic classic `Casablanca' (1942), the storyline obviously provides others with the inspiration to try. John Lawless Duigan (`The Year My Voice Broke'& `Sirens'), who wrote and directed this 1982 Australian production, brazenly ensures that `Far East' joins the ever growing list of remakes which now includes the fair attempt of `Havana' (1990) starring Robert Redford as well as `Cuba' (1979) with Sean Connery. The intrigue is relocated from North Africa during World War II to 1980's South East Asia, to a colourful and sleazy undisclosed setting that is ostensibly Manila (or is it really Macau?), teeming with life amongst the political unrest of the Philippines. The Koala Klub, a seedy disco bar with the worst of 70's/80's dance dirge and alas without a piano player, is run by Morgan Keefe (Bryan Brown) an ex-pat Aussie who didn't return home after the Vietnam War and, in keeping with local custom, keeps a troupe of dancing girls for the entertainment of his unsavoury customers. Just as in the original movie his former lover walks into his bar with her husband (John Bell in his AFI award nominated supporting role as Peter Reeves), this time a deadpan crusading journalist. Helen Morse as the exotic Jo Reeves from Saigon, whose father was a French black-marketeer, has the excuse to reprise her seductive French accent a la Mademoiselle de Poitiers from Peter Weir's exceptional `Picnic at Hanging Rock', though it is less charming when uttering Anglo-Saxon expletives. In a very different role to Ingrid Bergman's, Jo is rather modernly portrayed as a lecherous lush, and to everyone's embarrassment, she sexily embraces a large objet d'art' at a flamboyantly dressed party, before coquettishly joking with Morgan how she put the gardener in hospital. Bill Hunter, as the mutual friend Walker, is a very familiar stalwart face having appeared in many major Australian films that have reached the UK over the last three decades from `Eliza Fraser' (1976) to `Gallipoli' (1981) through to `Muriel's Wedding' (1994).
After renewing their liaison, Jo seeks Morgan's help when her husband is persecuted by the military regime for investigating the workings of multi-national corporations and their exploitation of the cheap local labour force. Reeves and his native contact, Rosita (Raina McKeon), to whom he seems to show more than a professional interest, are arrested' and held for questioning' by one of the many police factions for prying too closely into the shooting of a worker on a picket line. Reeves is forced to watch the extremely abhorrent rape of Rosita, who is later tortured by cigarette burns, reflecting the baseness of humanity and the depths we are all capable of descending into given the right environment. A disturbing comment on the callous disregard for life in this part of the world is made when a government cover up is unearthed after demonstrators in the country are slaughtered by the military.
Beneath his heartless and cynical exterior, Morgan (perfectly delineated by Bryan Brown), who uses one of his girls as payment for information, finds his feelings run deep for his `frog' and he does the implausibly heroic deed of single handedly infiltrating the unofficial `safe house' to rescue Reeves and Rosita, even withstanding a hail of machine gun bullets, to escape with only a cut hand. In a plot departure the ending is fittingly more bitter and less sweet than the original's, there is no `beginning of a beautiful friendship' as the Reeves make their escape out of the non fog-bound harbour, whilst the fates of Rosita, Morgan and his `business partner', Nene (Sinan Leong) are determined in an effective slo-mo finale which momentarily deceives you. Though it may lack the sheer style and wit of `Casablanca', being possessed of comic book baddies and the occasional hysterical performance, this film still entertains with some very watchable Australian actors, and helps expose some of humanity's plights and sufferings, exploited by unscrupulous corporations to contribute to our cosy materialistic western worlds.
The romantic pairing of Helen Morse (`Agatha') and Bryan Brown (`Breaker Morant') capitalises on their original outing together a year earlier in the splendid TV mini-series `A Town Like Alice', Nevil Shute's epic tale of love from war torn Malaya to the Australian Outback, which led to a grand passion off screen. Devastatingly for Helen the affair ended abruptly when she read in a TV magazine that her partner had become involved with Rachel Ward whilst making `The Thorn Birds' in 1983, and Helen subsequently became something of a recluse, turning down offers for films such as `Yanks'. As a result the film industry and many of her fans have shamefully been deprived of a remarkably precious talent (in 1976 Helen won both the Australian Film Institute's and the San Sebastian International Film Festival's awards for Best Actress for her performance as `Caddie' in the film of the same name). Whilst her co-star has gone on to such great things as `Cocktail' and `F/X', Helen has concentrated on theatre, receiving critical acclaim in recent years for plays such as `The Woman in the Window' (1998), and she is to star in the forthcoming Melbourne festival's production of Patrick White's `The Aunt's Tale' (23 October to 3 November 2001).
Unfortunately the quality of the recording of the video-to-video copy I obtained from ScreenSound Australia not only impaired the sound but didn't do full justice to the cinematography by Brian Probyn (`Inn of the Damned'), who sadly died the same year `Far East' was released. The time-coded window was particularly obtrusive, being unnecessarily large, and I would advise obtaining a copy of the master video in this instance.
After renewing their liaison, Jo seeks Morgan's help when her husband is persecuted by the military regime for investigating the workings of multi-national corporations and their exploitation of the cheap local labour force. Reeves and his native contact, Rosita (Raina McKeon), to whom he seems to show more than a professional interest, are arrested' and held for questioning' by one of the many police factions for prying too closely into the shooting of a worker on a picket line. Reeves is forced to watch the extremely abhorrent rape of Rosita, who is later tortured by cigarette burns, reflecting the baseness of humanity and the depths we are all capable of descending into given the right environment. A disturbing comment on the callous disregard for life in this part of the world is made when a government cover up is unearthed after demonstrators in the country are slaughtered by the military.
Beneath his heartless and cynical exterior, Morgan (perfectly delineated by Bryan Brown), who uses one of his girls as payment for information, finds his feelings run deep for his `frog' and he does the implausibly heroic deed of single handedly infiltrating the unofficial `safe house' to rescue Reeves and Rosita, even withstanding a hail of machine gun bullets, to escape with only a cut hand. In a plot departure the ending is fittingly more bitter and less sweet than the original's, there is no `beginning of a beautiful friendship' as the Reeves make their escape out of the non fog-bound harbour, whilst the fates of Rosita, Morgan and his `business partner', Nene (Sinan Leong) are determined in an effective slo-mo finale which momentarily deceives you. Though it may lack the sheer style and wit of `Casablanca', being possessed of comic book baddies and the occasional hysterical performance, this film still entertains with some very watchable Australian actors, and helps expose some of humanity's plights and sufferings, exploited by unscrupulous corporations to contribute to our cosy materialistic western worlds.
The romantic pairing of Helen Morse (`Agatha') and Bryan Brown (`Breaker Morant') capitalises on their original outing together a year earlier in the splendid TV mini-series `A Town Like Alice', Nevil Shute's epic tale of love from war torn Malaya to the Australian Outback, which led to a grand passion off screen. Devastatingly for Helen the affair ended abruptly when she read in a TV magazine that her partner had become involved with Rachel Ward whilst making `The Thorn Birds' in 1983, and Helen subsequently became something of a recluse, turning down offers for films such as `Yanks'. As a result the film industry and many of her fans have shamefully been deprived of a remarkably precious talent (in 1976 Helen won both the Australian Film Institute's and the San Sebastian International Film Festival's awards for Best Actress for her performance as `Caddie' in the film of the same name). Whilst her co-star has gone on to such great things as `Cocktail' and `F/X', Helen has concentrated on theatre, receiving critical acclaim in recent years for plays such as `The Woman in the Window' (1998), and she is to star in the forthcoming Melbourne festival's production of Patrick White's `The Aunt's Tale' (23 October to 3 November 2001).
Unfortunately the quality of the recording of the video-to-video copy I obtained from ScreenSound Australia not only impaired the sound but didn't do full justice to the cinematography by Brian Probyn (`Inn of the Damned'), who sadly died the same year `Far East' was released. The time-coded window was particularly obtrusive, being unnecessarily large, and I would advise obtaining a copy of the master video in this instance.
Holds up 40 years later
Phil_M_A_Kerr28 September 2021
Probably only holds up for those with an interest in Australian cinema set in Southeast Asia.
An excellent review already exists here so I'll just say that I enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed the more recent 2012's Wish You Were Here.
Looking forward to the next Aussie film that explores both the beauty & the brutal sides of Australia's geographic neighbours.
An excellent review already exists here so I'll just say that I enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed the more recent 2012's Wish You Were Here.
Looking forward to the next Aussie film that explores both the beauty & the brutal sides of Australia's geographic neighbours.
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