Movie Review : South Pacific

Is there anything better for a young man to do on his birthday than to sit down with a nice Rum and Frooti, a couple of burgers and a Rodgers and Hammerstein vcd?
There is! Hm, well, it was still pretty fun. I didn't even wanted to drink, only when everybody started calling up to say "Happy Birthday! Don't Get Too Drunk, Ha Ha Ha Bye" that I succumbed to familial pressure.
And I ended up on the floor singing 'Honey Bun', so you know I had a good time. Although I was sort of in tune, so wasn't that good a time.

South Pacific (1958) is the film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical South Pacific (1949), originally based on three short stories from James Michener's Pulitzer Prize Winning Tales of The South Pacific. The stage version is the only musical till date to ever win all four Tonys for acting, and is considered to be one of the most successful musicals ever, in the same league as Oklahoma(!) and The Sound Of Music. The film adaptation had an almost entirely new cast, with certain exceptions, but contained some songs which were not present in the stage musical and the first release of the film, presumably for time reasons. The film topped the box office that year, and was nominated for many awards, though mainly in technical areas.

South Pacific is set in the South Pacific (Nice how that works out, isn't it?) during World War II, primarily on a U.S. Navy Base. The sailors start of the singing with a lament ('Nothing Like A Dame') of how there are no women on the island, at least none to suit their purposes. The one women who would have something to do with the sailors is Bloody Mary (Juanita Hall) the native trader who drops by from the neighbouring forbidden island of Bali Ha'i. Only officers can sign out boats to go to Bali Ha'i, and one of the sailors, Luther Billis (Ray Walston) wants to get there desperately; he says its the Polynesian boar tusk bracelet, but we know it's the native girls he really wants. He tries to get the new Lieutenant (Cable, played by John Kerr) to go to Bali Ha'i, but it's only after a haunting rendition of Bali Ha'i (the song, not the island) by Bloody Mary that he considers it.
The only other women on the island are nurses, one of whom is Nellie Forbush (Mitzi Gaynor), who is in a relationship with Emile de Becque (Rossano Brazzi), a wealthy, french, middle-aged plantation owner, who are in fact the Lead Characters of the story. After a slight wane in their relationship (and like three songs), Nellie and Emile decide to marry. But before they do, Emile decides it's about time he tells her that he is a widower, and has two children from his dead Polynesian wife, but Nellie's ethnic prejudices surface, and she starts avoiding Emile (I don't blame her. Kids who speak french are creepy.)
Meanwhile, Cable reaches Bali Ha'i and finds out why Bloody Mary looks at him funny all the time and acts spooky in general; she introduces him to her daughter Liat (France Nuyen, who is Super Hot by the way; not much about her on the 'net, but you have to see the film to believe it.) It is, of course, love at first site, just as Mary predicted, even though Cable only speaks english and Liat only french. But even though he'll sing and swim around in waterfalls with her, Cable refuses to marry Liat, infuriating Mary.
Thus, Nellie and Cable, both have to choose between their Love, or their Prejudices; which they actually believe they cannot help, being 'born that way'. But as Cable sings later 'It Has To Be Carefully Taught', which was pretty controversial for a 1949 mainstream play, let alone a musical.
Having nothing to lose, Emile and Cable agree to go on a dangerous mission behind Japanese lines. The war has come to the South Pacific and the idle sailors are sent to fight. Cable dies in an air raid, just as Mary and Liat come to forgive him. Nellie chooses Emile and stays back to take care of his children. Emile returns, they hold hands while the children eat, and all is well, ever after.

The film is one of the most well-known (not here, but I'll take wikipedia's word for it), and successful musicals of all time (it's soundtrack was No. 1 for 70 consecutive weeks, that's all of 1959 and then some). It's songs are popular as Standards and Muzak, particularly 'Some Enchanted Evening', 'Younger Than Springtime' and 'Bali Ha'i', which is really unfair because the film has several other wonderful songs, 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair', 'A Wonderful Guy', Happy Talk' and 'Honey Bun' among other tunes. This film marked the new trend in musical theatre started primarily by Rodgers and Hammerstein of having songs as an integral part of the storytelling process, not just as humorous interludes or showcase for an actor (Gene Kelly, I'm looking at you). Wonder when this will start here...

Worth the DVD in my opinion. One of the best musicals I have seen (trust me on this, I have had a lot of birthdays;) one that doesn't teeter between too fanciful and just too damn flamboyant; one that's progressive while at the same time has crass stereotypes as main characters; one that keeps you interested even when the colour tone changes drastically every time someone starts singing (apparently the director wanted a very subtle effect to reflect the mood of each song, but the studio rushed the post-production to release the film in time for a roadshow release).
Still very good though. Watch It.