HIGHLA-L Digest - 29 Jun 2004 to 1 Jul 2004 (#2004-124)
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Topics of the day:
1. Season Four dvds: The Wrath of Kali
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Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 16:40:47 -0400
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Four dvds: The Wrath of Kali
NOTE: Html version of commentary w/screen captures available at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/Season4/Kali.htm
COMMENTARY: David Tynan says that this episode had an odd inspiration, in
that production designer Steve Geaghan had wanted to do a show set in a
truly exotic locale, specifically India. The writers thought it couldn't be
done (elephants, tigers, exotic costumes, etc.). Steve was persistent, and
finally they decided they would do it, saying that if Steve can put it on
the screen, then they can write it.
Steve Geaghan talked about how they didn't really have a timeline of where
MacLeod had been and how he had gotten from place to place until the 2nd or
3rd season. Steve examined the timeline and felt that there was a period
where they had him in China, then subsequently in Japan and Mongolia, where
MacLeod could have been in India. Geaghan had wanted to use the Orpheum
Theatre in Vancouver, which was a marvelous and varied in environment, with
a strange, mogul Indian 18th Century look to it.
David says the episode involved a lot of research, what the religion
involved, the Goddess Kali and the various forms it could take, and the more
the read the more complicated it seemed. They researched the Thugees, who
were murdering mostly British soldiers during the period. Fortunately, they
also had a number of Canadian actresses of Indo origin, who helped confirm
that they were on the right track. Once they had the extras, the costumes,
they had built the temples, and they built the statue of the Goddess, they
really wanted to use them in the story and keep them in the flashback for as
long as possible.
Steve says the flashbacks had become a major portion of the shows,
unexpectedly so, and this one was one of the most interesting ones they did.
He says whether a director chooses to use the set or not is somewhat based
on whim, and sometimes when the director chooses to focus tightly on the
actor's face, the extensive design that's been done on the set can become
fuzzy, and out of focus, and essentially lost. "That's when you take a deep
breath and say, 'Oh, well, maybe next time.'" He says, "Unfortunately, you
do need actors on these sets, and these sets are about actors and story and
revealing the story." But if the director chooses not to show the
environment, in Steve Geaghan's opinion, he is taken away one aspect of
telling the story.
David T. talked about how fortunate they were to get Molly Parker as the
actor who played the Colonel's wife. He said she has a face like a character
out of "Sense and Sensibility", as well as a simmering sexuality under the
surface. The part was written as a character who had a boring husband with
little or no sexual appeal. She was frustrated young lady with no sexual
outlet until MacLeod came along. In the picnic scene in the Indian outback,
there was a definite sexuality intended in the scene, but none of them were
quite prepared for the amount of sexual energy that occurred. There's a part
where MacLeod slides a hand up her leg, and while some of the touching is
off screen, it is clear that the young wife is close to reaching "some state
of Nirvana" from MacLeod's caresses while her husband is a few feet away.
That was not scripted, but was brought out by the director and the actors.
OUTTAKES: We are shown a longer version of the opening scene at the
reception at the University, where Shandra (which they also spell "Chandra")
Devane is described as the one who "shanghaied" MacLeod into teaching the
seminars. A second long scene is shown between Chandra and MacLeod where she
and MacLeod argue about how she got the statue and MacLeod tries to persuade
her to give it up and donate it to the museum in Calcutta. When he seems to
be losing the argument, he smilingly implies that word might get out that
the museum had acquired a sacred piece that might possibly have been stolen,
and that would be bad publicity. When Shandra accuses him of blackmailing
her, he says that guilt wasn't working, that it would be worth it, was the
right thing to do, and whatever the costs involved it would be less than
what he was willing to donate to the museum.
VIDEO COMMENTARY: Don Paonessa (post production editor) and Bill Panzer do
the video commentary, and Don reiterates that the notion of doing a show
with a location in India was Steve Geaghan's idea, and how good he was at
using small bits and pieces to create a sense of place. BP notes that "very
few people *ever* look as good in a dinner jacket as Adrian." He also tells
us that Steve Geaghan made the Kali statue. The two of them discuss how that
much of the time, there was a "big" filmic look to Highlander scenes, and
later talk about the complexity of the moral issues presented, that who was
wrong and who was right was frequently not at all clear, and in this
episode, we see Richie struggling to understand, to move up a notch in his
view of such things. Don Paonessa says one of the beauties of the show was
that you could deal with mythology and history as you wove in the long lives
of the Immortal characters.
They both chuckled during the picnic scene. Don says he thinks it's one of
the funniest scenes they ever did. Don also mentioned that Steve sometimes
felt the scenery got short shrift, so that issue was probably a bone of
contention during filming of the episode.
In the fireside Thugee scene Don says they had to "blow up" (enlarge and
make them seem more like close-ups) some of the shots to make them
effective, but that the lighting was great and had good energy, and
attributes the consistent quality of the episode to Bill Panzer's
willingness to give directors freedom to do it the way they see it, rather
than proscribe them to film the episodes in a specific way. (Of course, Bill
was sitting right there, so that comment was no surprise.)
THE EPISODE: The episode begins in London, where an art dealer (Millay)
meets with a handsome Indian man, where it becomes clear that the dealer is
willing to deal with artifacts of questionable origin. The Indian man is
interested in a bronze statue, 1600 years old, of the Goddess Kali. Turns
out Millay had just sold it to a University in the states. The Indian man
says the Kali was sacred to the Thugee cult, then brings out a silk scarf
and strangles the man to death.
Turns out the statue has ended up at the university where Duncan is
teaching, and he has brought Richie to a reception in honor of the occasion
of its presentation. It is a complex, rather scary-looking multi-armed Hindu
statue with skulls hanging around her neck. Duncan feels an immortal, turns
and it's the Indian man, and we get a ...
FLASHBACK: To India 1764, where we meet a British Colonel (Ramsey) of the
arrogant, stiff-upper-lip variety, and his pretty, somewhat bored and
frustrated wife Alice. Duncan arrives, dressed in local garb, offending the
Colonel, who insists he wear a proper uniform. Duncan says he'll wear what
he likes, and he works with, not for, Ramsey. Alice seems delighted at
MacLeod's arrival, but Duncan feels an Immortal approach. It is Kamir,
richly dressed, and presents himself as an advisor to the Raja. They talk
about the threat of the cult of Thugees has terrorized the countryside, but
the Colonel insists they wouldn't dare harm the English. Alice thinks a ride
in the countryside would be amusing, leaning over to let her decolletage
spill out to maximum advantage, and asking Duncan in a tone rich with
innuendo, "You do ride well, Mr. MacLeod?"
In the present, Kamir and Duncan greet each other fairly warmly, and Duncan
introduces him to Richie and Shandra. Kamir tells them that the statue of
Kali is not an ordinary statue, that it is a god, and doesn't belong there.
The issue is brought up again the next day when Kamir goes to visit Shandra,
telling her it is sacrilege to keep the Kali, and she should understand that
because she is (part) Indian. He surreptitiously brings out a silk scarf to
strangle her, when he feels Duncan approach.
Richie is working out with a staff in the dojo, when Kamir arrives, and
shows him how to *really* use it in a series of expert moves. Kamir
describes how India was invaded many, many times over the centuries, but
they are still there, and there is no place in the world like it. There are
several moments in the present-day plot where Kamir expounds on his love of
India to Richie, and how as an Immortal they have a duty to try to preserve
their cultures.
Duncan comes in, and Richie wants Duncan and Kamir to face off using the
staffs. Duncan gets in a good strike or two, but Kamir ends up knocking
Duncan down. Kamir and Duncan go upstairs and have some tea and Kamir asks
Duncan to help him get the Kamir back, proclaiming that the statue is alive,
that she's a part of India. He says Duncan knows what life was life under
the British, and if anyone can understand, Duncan can.
FLASHBACK: To a picnic scene with Duncan, Ramsey and his wife. They talk
about the Thugee, which Duncan tells Alice are a secret cult of assassins
who, so far, have only killed other Indians by strangling them with a silken
cord. "Mr. MacLeod," she purrs, "You're giving me goosebumps."
Ramsey blusters that the are "a bunch of wog fanatics," that they will stamp
out in no time, and goes to get the horses. Alice complains of a cramp in
her leg and asks Duncan to rub it. He rubs her calf, and as her breath
quickens they talk about the spicy food and how Alice "would like to put a
little spice in my life." She moves his hand from her calf to her thigh and
her eyes close and her breast starts to heave as Duncan watches with heated
amusement. She is close to orgasm, when Ramsey comes with the horses, and
Alice quickly moves down her skirt.
"Your wife was just telling me about her keen interest in spice," Duncan
announces slyly. Alice, in the meantime, is not amused.
As they ride, the three of them encounter a funeral, where the deceased man'
s wife is preparing to become sutti, throwing herself on her husband's
funeral pyre. Ramsey says there is nothing they can do, that it's the woman'
s fate. The woman is beautiful and looks unhappy, and Duncan watches her for
a moment, then spurs his horse forward, saying, "Fate is what you make it."
He rides up, pulling the woman onto the back of his horse. Back at the
palace, the woman (Vashti) is upset that he had interfered, that he had
shamed her. That it was her duty. He says that she wanted to live, that he
saw it in her eyes. She says it didn't matter what she wanted, that her life
was over.
Back in the present, Duncan goes to Shandra and tries to talk her into
repatriating the statue, that the art dealer who sold it to her was someone
of questionable honesty, and that the statue was probably stolen. When
Shandra calls Millay to check out the claim, she learns that he had been
strangled to death. Later, at the dojo, where Kamir is teaching Richie to
use the staff, MacLeod arrives, obviously angry, and accuses Kamir of
killing Millay. Kamir seems unperturbed, and observes that "the MacLeod I
knew was not so quick to judge, or was I wrong?"
The remainder of the present-day plot involves Kamir's justifications of his
murder of Millay and his determination to kill Shandra as a traitor to
India, to her people. In between those revelations and conversations are a
number of flashbacks.
FLASHBACK: Duncan encounters Alice on a balcony in the moonlight. She
literally throws herself at him, and when he pushes her away, she accuses
him of preferring "that little brown tart of yours." Duncan snaps back at
her, and she explodes in anger, yelling that she hates India, "the disease,
the whole filthy lot of them."
Duncan disdainfully tells her it must be nice, "knowing you're of a superior
race."
"At least I'm white!" she replies, and Duncan advises her to leave before he
truly does "forget himself." In the meantime, her husband, Ramsey, his gone
to view some rite in the village, but is pulled off his horse and strangled
to death as an appeasement, as Kamir says, to Kali.
IN ANOTHER FLASHBACK: Duncan and Kamir discuss their concerns that Ramsey is
late returning from an outing, and Kamir elicits Duncan's dislike of Ramsey,
that "his kind" destroyed his country and "scattered my people". Duncan's
concern isn't really for Ramsey's life, it is for the retribution the
British will take on the Indian people if an English officer is killed. "You
kill one of theirs, they kill ten o'yours."
They encounter Vashti in the garden, and Duncan and she walk together.
Duncan observes that it must be hard to be cut off from her people. She
observes that the same is true for him, and asks if he is lonely, and when
he admits that he is, she asks why he "refused the memsahib, Mrs. Ramsey?"
She says, she is beautiful, white and English. "She is like you."
But Duncan protests that she is not like him, that she sees nothing but her
own vanity and cares for nothing but herself. "She has not found the beauty
in this land, not like I have." He takes her hand, then kisses it.
But we later see Kamir emerge from Vashti's rooms, saying, "You have chosen
the right path, Vashti."
Duncan goes to Vashti, who asks if Duncan believes in immortality of the
soul, and whether you should live your life correctly in order to become
pure. Duncan tells her they should try, but that he's not perfect, that no
one is.
"Not in one lifetime," she answers, and Duncan just looks sad and chagrined.
She stands and pulls him with her to the bed, they kiss, and Duncan asks if
she's certain. She answers that, she is certain of many things now, and "You
are one of them," and there is a love scene. Duncan awakens in the early
hours to find Vashti getting ready to leave. Duncan protests, but she says
she must go, and go alone.
Duncan importunes her to hurry back, saying, "We have much to discuss," but
she strokes his face, telling him that when they first met, he had told her
she had never truly been in love, but now she had, then they kiss and she
leaves.
Later, Duncan is looking for Vashti, when he hears Alice cry out. She ends
up slapping Duncan (twice), telling him that, "Your precious Indians
murdered him (her husband)!"
YET ANOTHER FLASHBACK: We see Duncan galloping towards the earlier clearing
where he had originally "rescued" Vashti. She is, however, already dead and
they are preparing to burn her on the pyre. Kamir said she did what duty
required, that it was her wish. When Duncan challenges him, Kamir asks why
he should, since all he did was help Vashti fulfill her duty, and that she
did it because she loved Duncan. He convinces Duncan to put down his sword,
but Duncan insists on being the one to set the pyre ablaze after he has
kissed her and covered her face.
In the present, Duncan coldly accuses Kamir of cheapening her death, that
Vashti died for her beliefs, not for Kamir. But Kamir says Vashti believed
in him, that he was Kali, that he was India. Duncan tells him he's not a
god, and when Kamir asks what right Duncan has to say what he is, Duncan
answers, "I am an Immortal, like you. Now take the Kali and leave." Kamir
refuses to leave "while the traitor lives."
"Then there's one rule we both live by," Duncan says. "There can be only
one."
The fight takes them into a planetarium auditorium, where they trigger a
laser light show, complete with sound effects as they fight. The Quickening
incorporates the laser lights, which is fairly weird, and they do another
one of those "incorporate the dead Immortal's beliefs" Quickenings.
In the tag scene, Richie bemoans all the people who had died for the Kali
statue, including Kamir. He says there was a greatness about Kamir, what he
stood for and what he wanted for his people. Duncan reminds Richie that
Kamir only stood for himself, and a cult which had died out over a 100 years
before. "When you're Immortal, you see kings and dynasties come and go.
Sometimes it's hard to remember that you're not a god. Kamir thought that he
was," and he tells Richie he's going to send the Kali home to India.
MY COMMENTS: I liked this episode for the flashbacks, but not for the
present-day story. The historical view was rich both visually and
emotionally, with truly memorable characters established in a relatively
short amount of screen time. Alice Ramsey was just terrific - the perfect
blend of cold vanity and self-centered lust - Vashti was lovely, Colonel
Ramsey was an over-the-top embodiment of an arrogant asshole, but
delightfully so. And Kamir was gorgeous, charismatic, elegant and powerful,
moving through space with the grace and potency of the tiger they used in
the background of the garden scene.
And let's face it, Duncan looked droolisheous in every one of those Indian
outfits. Yowsa.
I felt the flashback story captured a terrific sense of time and place and
character across the board, and was worthy of an episode all by itself -
along with its lesson about making assumptions about other people's beliefs
and cultures.
On the other hand, the present day story felt like an afterthought, and a
sad one, at that. Kamir had gone from being a powerful tiger in his own
realm to a man the world had left behind. Not only had his cult died out,
but he had elevated himself in his own mind from a priest of Kali, to an
embodiment of the god herself, and (I suppose) provided an object lesson for
Duncan (and Richie) not to become so enamored of the past that you forget
who and what you are in the present.
We also saw Duncan deal (again) with the dilemma of where the line is drawn
when an Immortal becomes worthy to die for his actions. He was (reluctantly)
prepared to accept Kamir's murder of Millay, I assume because: a) It was
done already; and b) Millay probably *was* guilty of facilitating the theft
of the statue, which to Kamir was an horrific crime; and c) Kamir's motives
were not evil, just (in Duncan's view) misguided.
But when it came to *preventing* the death of someone Duncan felt to be
completely innocent, Duncan felt he had to act. I also think Kamir's
spouting off about how he was more than Kali's priest, that he was a god and
Duncan had no right to question the will of Kali was enough to set off all
kinds of warning bells that poor Kamir was now a few bricks shy of a load,
and had become dangerous.
And I will say again how awkward those "theme" Quickenings are, IMO. Duncan
jerking into Kali-like poses just makes me squirm when I watch it, although
they certainly used some of the laser lighting effects to good advantage.
MacGeorge
All season commentaries available at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/indexframeset.htm
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 29 Jun 2004 to 1 Jul 2004 (#2004-124)
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