echoesofparadise

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Wendy Hughes

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ECHOES OF PARADISE

Laughing Kookaburra Productions in association Australian European Finance Corporation Limited present[s] Echoes of Paradise. Alternative titles: 'Promises to Keep' and 'Shadows of the Peacock' (working). © 1987 Laughing Kookaburra Productions Ptv Ltd. Locations: Phuket (Thailand); Sydney. Australian distributor: Roadshow. Video: Roadshow. Rating: M (February 1988). 35mm. 92 mins.

Producer: Jane Scott.
Executive producer: Jan Sharp.
Scriptwriter: Jan Sharp.
Additional material: Anne Brooksbank.
Director of photography: Peter James.
Camera operator: Danny Batterham.
Production designer: Judith Russell
Costume designer: Clarrissa Patterson.
Composer: William Motzing.
Editor: Frans Vandenburg,
Sound recordist: Tim Lloyd.
Supervising sound editor: Greg Bell.
Sound editors: Danielle Wessner (dia.), Sally Fitzpatrick (fx).
Mixers: Peter Fenton, Phil Heywood, Martin Oswin.

Cast

Wendy Hughes (Maria), John Lone (Raka), Steven Jacobs (George), Peta Toppano (Judy), Rod Mullinar (Terry), Gillian Jones (Mitty), Claudia Karvan (Julie), Rebecca Smart (Tessa), Matthew Taylor (Simon), Vithawat Bunnag (Sali), Prasert (Kasem), Lynda Stoner (Beth Mason), Ray Harding (Paul Mason), Penny Stehl (Mrs. Evans), Dibbs Mather (Rev. Whiteley), Don Pascoe (Senator Blayney), Jan Boreham (Nun), Ruth Caro (Nurse); Samantha Barber, Sabrina Bourdot (American Tourists); John Spicer (Club Porter), Marjorie Child (Maria's Mother).

    Syrupy dialogue and a clichéd scenario mar this quasi-romantic melodrama about the sexual awakening of a married woman. Maria (Wendy Hughes) is a devoted wife and mother, who, traumatised after hearing of her husband's infidelities, heads off to Thailand to focus her thoughts and heal. While holidaying, she meets and falls in love with a Balinese dancer, Raka (John Lone), and realises how shallow and unfulfilled life with her husband George (Steven Jacobs) has been. In the interim, George arrives in Bali and attempts somewhat passionlessly to woo her back. Maria is faced with the dilemma of surrendering her past in the pursuit of self-fulfilment or returning to her family and husband.
    Through Maria's eyes, director Phillip Noyce takes the viewer into two worlds: an urban jungle, where money, infidelity, insincerity and hypocrisy are the norm; and a tropical paradise, where people go to retreat from the rat-race, heal and rebirth. But while Maria is cajoled into a sense of false comfort in Bali, the reality is that its idyllic charms mask tensions: people who stay at the resort are deep down no different to those she seeks to flee.
    In the film, people are driven by material wealth, such as George and his friends, and the Thai resort owner, Terry (Rod Mullinar). They lose emotional perspective in their ruthless pursuit of money and its associated benefits. It is the old chestnut of money doesn't buy love. In George's and Terry's world, insincerity comes easily, as do hypocrisy and double standards.
    Maria and Raka are kindred souls, both embracing old-fashioned values of respect, fidelity and commitment. Their attraction is more than physical; each finds in the other a catalytic release. For Raka, it is the ability to dance again and return home to Bali to repair his relationship with his father; for Maria, it is coming to terms with her inner self. When Maria first encounters Raka, he reminds one of a bird dancing in a wooden cage. Although Terry regards Raka as a 'prize possession' and treats him lavishly, Raka has to pay a price: surrendering his freedom. This is no different from Maria's situation: she is trapped in a life-style and married to a man who views her as an asset. While to date she has sublimated her feelings into a selfless love of her children, it is only when she meets Raka that both can escape the ties that bind them.
    Maria's strong maternal instincts set her apart from other women - a quality which George takes for granted. It is only when Maria and Raka leave that Terry and George realise how empty their lives have become.
    While the concept behind Echoes of Paradise is admirable, the execution is weak. The film is a very mediocre Shirley Valentine (Lewis Gilbert, 1989) weighed down by a poor script, a lush film score and some ham acting. A little less cliché and a little more sensitivity might have salvaged some of its sentiment.

PAT GILLESPIE