South Pacific (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Richard Pearce

Writers (WGA):

James Michener (novel)
Oscar Hammerstein II (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

26 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Drama | Comedy | War

Plot:

During World War II in the South Pacific love is found between a young nurse, Nellie Forbush (Glenn Close) and an older French plantation owner...

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Love | Remake | Based On Book | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Glenn Close	...	Nellie Forbush
Harry Connick Jr.	...	Lt. Joseph Cable
Rade Serbedzija	...	Emile de Becque (as Rade Sherbedgia)
Jack Thompson	...	Captain George Brackett
Lori Tan Chinn	...	Bloody Mary
Ilene Graff	...	Singing Ngana
Natalie Jackson Mendoza	...	Liat (as Natalie Mendoza)
Simon Burke	...	Harbison
Steve Bastoni	...	Bus Adams
Kimberley Davies	...	Luann
Robert Pastorelli	...	Luther Billis
Craig Ball	...	Austin
Damon Herriman	...	Professor
Salvatore Coco	...	DeVito
Peter Lamb	...	Bruno

Also Known As:

Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Trillium Productions

Trivia:

The musical number "Happy Talk" (sung by Bloody Mary) has been cut from this version of the musical.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The Grumman Goose seaplane used in the filming had retractable pontoons. The retractable pontoons weren't added to the Gooses till the 1960's.

Movie Connections:

Version of South Pacific (1958)

An Unfortunate Miss.

While I had high hopes for this remake of South Pacific,I regret to say it fell far below My expectations.With a strong cast (including the much too old Glenn Close) I at least expected this film to be an improvement over the original Rosano Brazzi version.

The first problem was the cutting down of the supporting characters. Poor Jack Thompson,who was brilliantly cast as Capt. Brackett had all of his best moments left on the cutting room floor,Bloody Mary was unfairly deprived of "Happy Talk" and Robert Pastorelli's Billis did not get his wonderful scene in Brackett's office following the "diversionary tactics".

Secondly,the rearanging of the score blunted the emotional impact of some of Hammerstein's most heart wrenching moments. Having Cable sing "Carefully Taught" alone in his his Hospital room instead of to Emile blunts the songs impact. The same with Emile's "This Nearly Was Mine". For these songs to work they need another presence in the scene.

As for the acting. Glenn Close does her best but falls short of Mitzi Gaynor's on the money portrayal,Rade Serbedzija gives us a fine,sympathetic Emile and Equals,if not exceeds Brazzi's portrayal.Harry Connick is a great choice for Joe Cable and sings and acts his role well.Unfortunately the score was not recoreded lushly enough and some of the other vocals are a bit weak (Serbedzija's singing for example comes no where neat the immortal recording of Ezio Pinza.)The supporting cast does what it can whith their condensed roles but if would have been nice to have them fleshed out more. This film could have been a masterpiece if all the pieces were assembled properly,instead its a watchable but far from perfect screen adaptaion of a much better musical play.