HIGHLA-L Digest - 7 May 2004 to 9 May 2004 (#2004-88)
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Sun, 9 May 2004 22:00:03 -0400
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Topics of the day:
1. Season Three dvds: Testimony
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Date: Sun, 9 May 2004 16:27:04 -0400
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Three dvds: Testimony
COMMENTARY: Lara Mazur, the Editor on Highlander, talks about how each
director had a unique approach, each of them chosen for various reasons.
However, as editors, every episode was like working on a small feature
because there wasn't any single particular style or way action scenes were
shot. Each episode had flashbacks that provided an opportunity to work in a
different period in history, making the art direction different in each
episode, with it's own "look".
F. Braun talked about the Cossacks attacking the village with a lot of
horses, combined with a lot of fire. At the very end, the Kristov character
gets piked off his horse. The horse has to go into a sustained rear to allow
the stunt man to fall off. The actor playing Kristov has to pull the horse
up into a rear to get the closeup. That's very dangerous when you're working
around fire, with so many things distracting the animals. The actor playing
Kristov was a rider, so fortunately there were things working in their
favor.
David Tynan says they decided to turn the usual fight on its ear. Usuallly
it's MacLeod taking on a bad guy, but this time, he takes on a number of
Kristov's henchman, and while he's doing that, it is Richie who confronts
Kristov, and does it off camera, so that MacLeod doesn't know who won.
F. Braun didn't get to choose the sword that was chosen for Stan, which was
called a sword rapier. It has a much wider blade that was used for battle
combat rather than dueling. The way the hilt was put together didn't stand
up well to the nature of repeated take after take, so the sword had the
habit of flying apart unexpectedly. It was difficult to choreograph for the
weapon because it hurt the actor's hand to hold it and you never knew
whether it was going to hold together. The sword was a single handed weapon
with a double edge, so the choreography is demonstrably different from
MacLeod's sword. Stan worked hard on the fight and he also brought a
different emotional quality than MacLeod, especially at the end when it
appears that Kristov is going to win.
Lara Mazur says there is an important moment when MacLeod isn't sure whether
it is Richie or Kristov who has won the fight, and he sees the Quickening.
He discovers it was Richie, and it is a moment of growth for the character
as a more mature Immortal.
OUTTAKES: We see the shot of Duncan waiting nervously in the airport for
Anne. The guy he is talking to is writer Larry Shore, and Dennis Berry
passes through the shot towards the end.
Duncan is snuggling with Anne on the barge, when Richie knocks. Duncan
gathers his robe around him, and says it's okay to enter. Richie comes in,
and Stan tries his line several times, blows it several times, and Adrian
and Stan both break up.
EPISODE: Duncan is waiting nervously for Anne to arrive in Paris, when a
girl collapses as Anne approaches customs. She is distracted taking care of
her, and doesn't see Duncan until after she has escorted the girl to the
hospital. At that point, she is stunned, since the last time she saw him, he
had died from a fall.
In the meantime, we meet Kristov, a Russian heroin dealer who had been using
the young woman to run drugs by having her swallow heroin balloons, which
had created the obstruction that caused her to end up in the hospital. He
instructs his lackeys to make sure Tasha never talks.
Duncan takes Anne to a warehouse and shows her some of the artifacts from
his past. She is amazed, stunned and tries to put it in scientific terms
that she can grasp, but Duncan tells her that she should just accept it.
When they stop by the hospital to check on Tasha, Duncan prevents Kristov's
henchmen from killing her as she confesses to Anne that she only did the
courier job for love. (NOTE: The chase and fight scene (during which Duncan
gets shot) is really very frantic and well done, ending with Duncan throwing
the bad guy down the stairs.)
Duncan and Anne are finally ensconced in bed in the barge, feeding each
other goodies, and Anne insists on hearing all about Duncan's history, and
if he knew famous historical figures. "I'm in bed with a man who could have
come over on the Mayflower!" she declares.
"Impossible," he answers, grappling her to the bed. "I'd never make it as a
Puritan."
At that point, Duncan gets the 'buzz' and an apologetic Richie barges (pun
intended) in. He's been seen by someone who thought he was dead. Mac says he
'll arrange to get Richie a new passport so he can get out of the country.
In the meantime, the police ask Anne if she will try to convince Tasha to
testify against the dealer who got her to courier the drugs. In an
interesting exchange, Anne says she isn't sure what to do. Duncan asks her
what she wants to do, and she says she didn't come to Paris to get involved
with the Russian mafia, so Duncan encourages her to walk away from the
problem. But then she demurs, thinking the guy should be put away. "Maybe,"
Duncan replies with a smile and a shrug. "It's your call." Unsurprised that
she decides to try to help, he waits outside while she deals with Tasha. As
he does, he feels another Immortal, and encounters Kristov. In a flashback,
we learn they first met back in Russian in 1750, when Duncan unhorsed one of
Kristov's Cossack warriors. He is invited to stay at their camp and eat and
drink with them. Duncan and Kristov bond a bit as warriors who care about
and defend their homeland, and MacLeod gets quite drunk and attempts a
Cossack dance, falling on his bum. ("It's just a Highland fling with a lot
of vodka!")
In the present, MacLeod immediately figures out that it is Kristov who is
Tasha's dealer, then Anne walks in on them. "You stay away from mine,"
Kristov says of Anne, "and I'll stay away from yours." Duncan is suddenly
filled with doubt about Anne's coming to Paris at all, now that she is at
risk, and tries to send her home. He tells her Kristov is an Immortal, that
the police can't stop him. (At which point, Anne must think Immortals are
behind every tree stump.)
In a continuation of the flashback, MacLeod accompanies the Cossack band on
a raid where Kristov has described the "enemies of Mother Russia" have
camped. Duncan discovers they are just farmers (the implication is that they
are Jewish settlers, although that is never said). Duncan says he won't help
them commit murder, and although he initially hangs back, he can't stand
watching the peasants being slaughtered, and intervenes to protect them.
(NOTE: This is a pretty brutal scene, with the farmers valiantly defending
themselves with a few spears and pitchforks while their women are being
killed and dragged around by their hair and the village burned.) Kristov is
incensed that MacLeod turned against him. While Duncan can't save very many,
he manages to save a few and get them away as the village goes up in flames.
Back in the present, Richie gets his new passport from Mac, asking if there
is anything he can do to thank him. Duncan asks him to take Anne with him to
the airport. Anne objects, asking when he started making her decisions for
her. He says it's a matter of life and death, that she deals with saving
lives, while Kristov takes them. She argues that she isn't going to leave
when he's got troubles, but he coldly insists, and walks away, leaving her
fuming.
She eventually goes looking for him, taking him a coat as he broods at the
front of the barge. "I know you don't catch colds or anything, but... just
put it on. It will make me feel better."
"I can catch colds, I just can't die from it," he answers, putting on the
coat. He pulls her into his arms, and she says Richie told her about Tessa
and how she died, that his need to protect her is partly about that, but
Duncan says that's only part of it. That "this whole thing is wrong!"
She says she's seen death and she's not afraid of it, and whatever happens
she wants them to be together. He insists that her whole life will never be
the same, but she just laughs and says her life hasn't been the same since
they met. "I've tried it with you and I've tried it without you, and I'll
take it with you any day."
Duncan looks at her intently. "You stay close to me. You keep me between you
and Kristov." She agrees, and with a mischievous smile asks how close.
The next day, she and Duncan convince Tasha to tell Duncan where Kristov is
so he can "take care" of him and remove him as a threat to her. Anne, of
course, thinks they ought to call the police rather than Duncan trying to
deal with Kristov himself. Unfortunately, in the meantime, while on the way
to the airport, Richie gets kidnaped by Kristov, who is delighted to
discover Richie is also an Immortal. He says he will kill Richie if Duncan
doesn't kill Tasha for him. Richie is defiant and gets knocked in the face
for his troubles.
Duncan tells Anne to get to the hospital and get Tasha's statement, while he
goes after Kristov. She protests that Kristov will kill Richie, but Duncan
says he won't if he gets there fast enough. "What if you don't?" she asks.
"Then I don't," he answers grimly, and dashes out.
Kristov, a would-be artist, continues work on a huge, grim painting as
MacLeod sneaks up on his guards, taking them out one at a time. When he
moves into the house, Kristov feels him coming, and he starts to take Richie
's head. Richie urges him to go ahead and do it. "After the Quickening
knocks you on your skinny little ass, MacLeod's going to be right there to
help you up. I die you go right behind me!"
Kristov jerks away in frustration, and yells to his henchmen to get ready,
they're clearing out. Duncan deals with Kristov's automatic-gun-wielding
minions as Richie manages to free himself from his bonds, gets his sword and
goes after Kristov. As the minions stalk around dark corners in the mansion,
Duncan takes them out one by one using some nice martial arts moves. I
particularly liked the one where he grabs the hand holding the gun, gets it
away, then puts his hand behind the guys neck and flips him over onto his
back. It's all done in one take and there's no question these are two guys
who *really* know what they're doing.
In the meantime, Richie is getting the worst of the sword fight, having
taken on someone far, far more experienced than he is. Duncan runs upstairs,
desperately looking for Richie, and he hears a cry, and the Quickening
begins, the windows blow out, the lightening plays along the painting that
Kristov had been working on, and Duncan's face is stunned. "Richie," he
whispers, and moves towards the door. The mist clears and Richie appears,
looking really pleased with himself.
Tag scene: Duncan and Anne take Richie to the airport, and Duncan and Richie
say goodbye. Richie thanks MacLeod for not letting Kristov use him. "He
thought you were a kid," Duncan says. "He was wrong." They hug and Stan says
teasingingly, "I'd kiss you but, uh, people might talk."
As Duncan and Anne walk back to the car, Anne asks Duncan if this is always
the way it's going to be. He says he doesn't know, that he can't see into
the future, and asks her if she can live with it. She shakes her head a
little and says she doesn't know, but she'd really like to try. They kiss,
and in the background we see a tall, grey-haired man standing behind them,
watching.
MY COMMENTARY: This is one of those episodes that falls somewhere in the
middle between "blah" and "interesting". Anne, for the most part, comes off
as much more sympathetic now that the tension about who and what Duncan is
has been relieved. She tries to get her arms around it scientifically, of
course, but that is consistent with who she is. Also consistent is her drive
to be in charge, in control, as when she took over the care of Tasha with a
single-minded concentration.
Because of the relief of tension, the interaction between Anne and Duncan
seems more natural, and while there are no great sexual sparks, Duncan's
affection for her seems clear, and we have plenty of evidence that Duncan is
attracted to strong-willed, feisty woman. I found it interesting that Duncan
's reaction to Anne's dilemma over whether to help the police with Tasha was
to let her decide for herself, and support that decision. But when it came
to an Immortal getting involved with their lives and threatening her, his
reaction was the opposite. Anne coming to Paris was wrong, and she had to
leave, period, end of story. As strongly as he stated that, subsequently
changing his mind on the issue didn't work really well for me, however.
However, Anne is also inconsistent. One minute she is insisting on staying
no matter the danger, that she's tried life without him and doesn't want to
do that again, and only a day later she is equivocating about that.
We also get Duncan's line about, "I can catch a cold, I just can't die from
it." Duncan with a cold, runny nose, chills, using up a box of tissues? Hard
to picture. <g>
I thought Kristov was an interesting villain, and thought the flashbacks
were effective, visually and emotionally. The actor was intense and focused,
but not particularly physically unimposing, which made him a more reasonable
opponent for Richie to deal with. The character was cold and could be
considered evil in an impersonal way. He didn't seem to go out of his way to
hurt people, he just didn't care. "It's just business," he says as he
instructs Duncan to kill Tasha in exchange for Richie's life. His only
passion was his painting, the rest was just a means to an end.
And then we have the whole Duncan and Richie subplot, which was interesting.
In Duncan's mind Richie has definitely shifted from being a student to being
a fellow Immortal, perhaps not on a truly equal footing but he's no longer
someone who always needs his protection. Of course, Duncan would never have
killed a mortal to protect Richie, so his choices were non-existent in this
case. And Duncan's reaction to Anne's question about what if he was too late
was the reaction of someone who has lost many, many friends to the Game:
"Then I'm too late." You can see Duncan's fear that he's lost Richie, then
his face hardens and he takes out his katana, expecting to have to deal with
Kristov, but when it's Richie, his whole body responds, he swallows and you
know he wants to hug him, but he restrains himself.
So, while my earlier impressions of the episode were just so-so, in viewing
it again I found there were a surprising number of things about this episode
that I found I liked.
MacGeorge
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 7 May 2004 to 9 May 2004 (#2004-88)
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