VIDEO Grown-up tale of African revenge

Press, 30 September 1988, Page 25

VIDEO Grown-up tale of African revenge

By

DAVID CLARKSON

A happy valley without any peace, and a murder without any mystery. Those are the elements of a cleverly crafted tale of colonial Kenya, “The Happy Valley.” The 88-minute video has been released by Virgin, through Videocorp International, and carries a rating as suitable for viewers 16 years old and over, with a warning that sexual content or language may offend.

It is a very grown-up tale, seen through the eyes of a miserable, victimised 16-year-old girl.

But. the attraction of this film, which recounts the scandalous goings on in 1941 Kenya, is that it is based on incidents in the early life of Juanita Carberry. Holly Aird, who appeared in “The Flame Trees of Thika,” now takes the part of a teenager returning to the colony after being expelled from her school in England for refusing to talk anything but Swahili.

In the countryside round Nairobi, the upper class British residents are busily whiling away World War II in a round of bridge, tennis, alcohol and adultery. That environment is full of quite enough surprises for a girl, but Juanita is also saddled with a brutish father who believes liberal doses of corporal punishment are the answer to his daughter’s misbehaviour.

That results in an escalating series of beatings for the girl. Viewers are left waiting for her to get even with the man, but the realisation finally dawns that her revenge is the video going on before our very eyes. The father, Lord John Carberry, is played with a horrible air of menace by Michael Byrne.

But this is far more than a domestic drama. It is about an unsolved murder that rocked Kenyan society. Lord Erroll, notorious womaniser, had been carrying on with the young wife of the ageing baronet, Sir Henry “Jock” Delves Broughton.

When Lord Erroll was found shot to death in his car, Sir Delves was put on trial for murder. He was acquitted but committed suicide two years later.

This video is about-the truth concerning the murder, revealed to the young Miss Carberry at the time, but kept all to herself. Denholm Elliott plays the ageing, cheated husband with another strong performance, to follow his role in the period drama, “A Room With a View.”

“The Legend of Wolf Lodge” is about another far-flung corner of the world where the characters’ main pre-occupa-tion is adultery. This Vestron release tells of a drifter, played by Lee Montgomery, who arrives in a snowbound Canadian town with his guitar and his dog, Jackson.

He has a fling with the waitress (Olivia D’Abo) at the local diner and decides to stay. But his job at nearby Wolf Lodge turns into a nightmare when he is seduced by his employer’s wife and finds that the alcoholic husband is beating her during his darkest moods. Then he finds himself drawn into a plot to murder the man.

During this descent into anarchy, the young man is told of a local Indian legend about a ghost who will take revenge on bad people who intrude into his territory. That has the making of a Sunday Horror offering, but there is no need of any psychic goings bn here. People are des-

troyed by their own black hearts. The film even includes a variation of Alfred Hitchcock’s shower scene in "Psycho.” The 86-minute video is rated for viewers 16 years and over, with a warning that its sexual content and language may offend. For those who enjoy a thriller, this one has plenty of wicked twists, and builds its suspense very nicely. Spelling aside, “Defense Play” rates as ,a spectacularly improbable but intriguing adolescent action movie. A team of Soviet spies who are not much concerned with glasnost plan to carry out some impromptu perestroika on the American Star Wars project. They want to disrupt a space launch by using some remote-controlled miniature reconnaissance helicopters the Americans

have also been developing. This becomes a tale of high-tech espionage and murder, with one youngster unjustly held by the police for interfering in their work.

It is the umpteenth video this year in which the enthusiastic amateurs do better as crimefighters than the thickskulled authorities. But it has some redeeming features. The video’s last half really moves, and there are some good aerial sequences of American warplanes. The climax is an aerial duel between two remote controlled helicopters. The film stars David Oliver, Susan Ursitti and an old friend of New Zealand television, Terrance Cooper of “Mortimer’s Patch,” the country cop drama. It is a Virgin video, through Videocorp, and it is rated as needing parental guidance for viewers under 13, with a warning about offensive language or content.

Peter Falk and Charles Burning con their way

through a good-natured romp in “Happy New Year,”as a couple of jewel thieves who set about a long and complicated robbery of a Palm Beach jewellery store.

It is an inventive storyline in which Falk gets to show off his talents as a crook, a businessman, a rich old man, and a rich old lady. The whole object of the exercise is to establish enough confidence to get someone inside the wellprotected jewellery store after hours. The two Old World criminals, with cleverness and style, plan what they call “a perfect psychological heist.” The 86-minute comedy also stars Tom Courtenay as the jewellery shop manager and Wendy Hughes as a woman whom Falk falls for along the way. It has been released through R.C.A.-Columbia-Hoyts Video.

Neil Diamond fans are offered more than music in the Vestron Music Video, “I’m Glad You’re Here With Me Tonight.”

The 52-minute video, released by Videocorp International, includes interview footage, A look at a recording session, and some of the singing star’s musings about his life.

There is also a chance to revisit the film “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” The music is not neglected, though. Diamond sings “Sweet Caroline,” “Song Sung Blue,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” “Kentucky Woman,” “Desiree” and several others.

Alexandre Dumas’ tale of intrigue, “The Man in the Iron Mask,” is retold for younger viewers in an Australian production of the same title. Burbank Films has adapted the novel into a 52-minute animated cartoon, very different from the usual cartoon adventures presented to children.

- There is more scheming than action, but the animation is good, and the regal settings of Louis XlV’s France are well drawn.