Film Review: The Eye of the Storm

LIKE the central figure in this ambitious adaptation of the celebrated Patrick White novel, The Eye of the Storm coughs a little, splutters a lot and then finally passes away.

hit rampling

LIKE the central figure in this ambitious adaptation of the celebrated Patrick White novel, The Eye of the Storm coughs a little, splutters a lot and then finally passes away.

Unlike the elderly matriarch Elizabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling) - making mischief while propped up in her death bed - The Eye of the Storm just doesn't know when its time is up.

Running at almost two hours, this uneven production spends too long doing too little with its wonderful cast. Patience is not only a virtue, it's an outright necessity.

The year is 1972. The city is Sydney. And as flagged from the start, the end is near for old Mrs Hunter, a wealthy grazier's widow. Her mansion is a flurry of activity in preparation for the arrival of whom the staff are ironically calling "the children".

Both kids appear to have blown out at least 50 candles on a birthday cake. Both have lived a majority of their adult lives overseas, enjoying some early success before hitting hard times.

Neither, it must be said, are too moved by the plight of their ailing mother.

Sir Basil (Geoffrey Rush), a once-famous actor on the London stage, would rather plant himself in a beer garden and talk shop with the local thesps. Any offers of female company for later in the evening will always be accepted.

Princess Dorothy (Judy Davis), still clinging to her title though no longer married to a member of the French aristocracy, is not as socially nor sexually inclined. But she is as broke.

Both Baz and Dot slink in and out of their mother's sight. Mainly to check if she's still alive. Or, failing that, to get the gist of who gets what in her will.

Rampling's scenes as Elizabeth - still a presence with which to be reckoned, in spite of her decrepit health - are a masterclass in refined, resourceful acting. If you do bond with this fitfully intriguing drama in any way, it will be all due to her.

As for Rush and Davis, both are left a little wanting by a script that never quite captures the essence of their characters.

Unfortunately for a floridly appointed Rush, though he is playing a supposed pantsman of the stage, in close up he looks like more of an old dame than the radiant Rampling.

While it is great to see so much fine talent corralled for a local production, veteran director Fred Schepisi - working on home turf for the first time in more than two decades - should have done more to tighten up this rambling affair.

The Eye of the Storm (MA15+)
Director: Fred Schepisi
(Last Orders)
Starring: Geoffrey Rush (above), Judy Davis, Charlotte Rampling, John Gaden, Helen Morse
Could have blown over quicker
2.5 Stars