FLUXEUROPA: 101 DALMATIONS

FluxEuropa - dark music and more

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101 DALMATIANS (1996)

Dir: Stephen Herek
Cast: Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Joan Plowright, Hugh Laurie, Mark Williams

The day after Thanksgiving is always strange, at least if you are not a dedicated shopper, for that is the day that the buying season begins in earnest.

In Northern California, the weather was somewhat overcast. I called the cineplex in Ukiah to see what was on offer. The pickings were slim indeed, even for six screens. Ransom didn't appeal any more than Barbra Streisand reprising her Ugly Duckling role. Star Trek seemed too - well - "trekky". Two of the remaining three films were eminently forgettable. Which left 101 Dalmatians. We had an excuse. Krishna was eleven years old.

I dimly remember seeing the original Disney cartoon at the Tooting Granada Cinema - now, lamentably, a Bingo Hall, but nonetheless preserved in all its Art Deco glory. My sister reminded me that I went with her, and that she was frightened out of her wits. So we were both quite interested in seeing how this latest manifestation would hold up.

It doesn't.

From the gratuitous cruelty to a dog in the first scene, this movie never quite finds its feet. It's difficult to see quite who its intended audience is. There is an abundance of mildly smutty testicular and lavatory humour, which doubtless went largely misunderstood by the younger children in the audience and was probably largely ignored by the adults. The English slang - which is used extensively - was misunderstood by most of our (American and Bolivian) companions, as were the excessively "Cockney" accents of Laurie and Williams.

But the major problem seems to be that IT ISN'T A CARTOON. A cartoon allows sleight of hand, plot discrepancies and anthropomorphism precisely because of the nature of the medium. Try and translate that to "real people" and it simply doesn't work.

London seems to have rearranged itself geographically since I was last there. Chelsea now has a view of the Houses of Parliament and seems to abut Parliament Hill Fields (OK, it's a film...). And Britain generally is depicted as if on a series of Victorian Christmas cards (complete with racoons). Except that the friendly, rosy-cheeked English bobbies drive Land Rover Discoveries.

Joely Richardson acts like a wimp throughout. As such, she is perfectly matched with Jeff Daniels. Joan Plowright gives a yeoman performance as "Nanny", while Hugh Laurie is a wonderful villain - although I would have cast Brian Glover as his sidekick, rather than Mark Williams. And the part of "Mr Skinner", the taxidermist, screamed out for Joss Ackland.

Glenn Close steals the show as Cruella de Ville. Suitably evil - and VERY sexy.

I suppose if you like animals being imbued with human emotions and made to perform all sorts of degrading tricks for our supposed amusement, then this is the flick for you.

On the other hand, I wouldn't bother taking any reasonably sophisticated eight year-old, unless she was accompanied by a gaga aunt...

Krishna thought it was "OK". The other children - both in their early 40s - concurred.

JOHN BLOWER - 30 November 1996