| The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Science-Fiction |
|
|
| Horror |
|
|
| Fantasy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE FOOTSTEP MAN
Rating: 
New Zealand. 1992.
Director – Leon Narbey, Screenplay – Leon Narbey & Martin Edmonds, Producer – John Maynard, Photography – Allen Guilford, Music – Jan Preston, Production Design – Kai Hawkins. Production Company – John Maynard Productions/New Zealand Film Commission/Avalon-NFU Studios/NZ On Air.
Cast:
Steven Grives (Sam Jolley), Jennifer Ward-Lealand (Mireille/Sarah), Rosey Jones (Vira), Michael Hurst (Henri Toulouse-Lautrec/Michael), Peter Dennett (Jake), Jorge Quezeda (Riccardo), Sarah Smuts-Kennedy (Marcelle)
Plot: Sound effects man Sam Jolley is dubbing the soundtrack for a film called ‘Monsieur Henri’, based on the life of painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec as seen through the eyes of his principal model and lover, the whore Mireille. The film ends with Mireille contracting syphilis and committing suicide. But as Sam works on the film he thinks he sees the ghost of Mireille calling and then appearing to him, wanting him to change the ending of the film to tell her true story. Others around Sam think he is becoming too obsessive and heading for a nervous breakdown.
This is another variation on the film-as-secondary reality theme popularized in recent years by the likes of The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), The Icicle Thief (1989) and Last Action Hero (1993). To play a film like this as serious drama instead of as light fantasy or comedy is quite a noble undertaking. And to further base the film-within-the-film on the life of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec makes an even more intriguing artistic challenge. The film was sold to the arthouse rather than mainstream audiences. But, despite the critical acclaim in New Zealand of director Leon Narbey’s debut feature about the Gold Rush, Illustrious Energy (1988), nobody appeared that interested in going to see The Footstep Man and it received a critical panning.
The Footstep Man isn’t a bad film – its’ critical reception led one to believe a far more mediocre film than is the case. The images given of the process of filmmaking are striking, particularly Narbey’s juxtaposition of images going on in the secondary film with the more banal things used to represent their sounds – raw meat thrown on a bench to represent a slap in the face, high-heels on a Parisian sidewalk amusingly represented by Steven Grives walking along fake paving strewn with sand in high-heels. Period Paris is dressed with considerable unromanticized conviction – according to Michael Hurst director Narbey went to incredible detail, even down to analyzing and replicating the style of Toulouse-Lautrec’s brushstrokes. Jennifer Ward-Lealand is exceptional as Mireille, presenting a hollowly haunting beauty that gives an extraordinary conviction to the film. Ward-Lealand’s real-life husband Michael Hurst (before finding fame as the sidekick on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [1994-9]) is fine in both his roles, most so as the barman – a momentary slip back into character to parody Toulouse-Lautrec’s limp just shows what a chameleon performance he has undergone.
But for all that the result feels vaguely unsatisfying. The resolution the film offers, particularly for the film-within-the-film, does seem rather banal and one cannot help but feel that its’ original ending actually worked with greater conviction. Narbey tries to end on a positive upbeat message but it all feels conducted with a little too much in the way of narcissistic self-absorption.
Copyright Richard Scheib 1993
|