{"id":10048,"date":"2014-11-14T11:45:51","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T16:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=10048"},"modified":"2014-11-14T11:48:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T16:48:00","slug":"beta-honorary-consul-the-beyond-the-limit-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=10048","title":{"rendered":"Beta: Honorary Consul, The \/ Beyond the Limit (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"BeyondTheLimit_Beta\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Good<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong>Paramount<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0n\/a (NTSC)<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 n\/a<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Suspense \/ Drama<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A politically neutral doctor in Northern Argentina becomes embroiled in a botched kidnapping.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 n\/a<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

This film version of Graham Greene\u2019s 1973 novel The Honorary Consul<\/strong> (released in the U.S. as Beyond the Limit<\/strong>) features a high-end cast and crew, but the dourness of the material coupled with a flat screenplay by playwright Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons<\/strong>) make this kidnapping crisis set somewhere in northern Argentina rather dull.<\/p>\n

The twists of Greene\u2019s story don\u2019t come into play until the middle, leaving director John Mackenzie a lot of screen time to establish compelling versions of the three characters caught in a kind of blindered love triangle, in which half British \/ Uruguayan doctor Plarr (Richard Gere) is attracted to a local whore Clara (Elpidia Carrillo) but is forced to engage in behind-the-scenes activities when she marries the local honorary consul, Charley Fortnum (Michael Caine), a thorn to Britain\u2019s diplomatic team for his public drunkenness and wily ways.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the pair\u2019s itinerant afternoon flings can\u2019t continue without some interruption: police head Colonel Perez (Bob Hoskins) lets on his own knowledge of the inappropriate affair which he feels will doom Plarr; and two of Plarr\u2019s childhood friends emerge with a plot to snatch the U.S. ambassador to highlight issues or torture and murder in Uruguay.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie\u2019s direction becomes taut when the kidnapping plot emerges and things go seriously wrong \u2013 a quirk results in worthless Fortnum being grabbed instead of the valuable American diplomat \u2013 and Plarr has to hide aspects of his affair while trying to gain Fortnun\u2019s release, but there are some awkward scenes that feel careless from a directorial and scriptwriting stance – staging Plarr and Clara\u2019s romantic behaviour in the open when the former knows Col. Perez\u2019 men are on the prowl.<\/p>\n

As a character, Plarr is so arrogant that he feels invincible and in control of the mounting chaos he\u2019s essentially seeded, and like a desperate doctor with a terminal patient, he\u2019s quickly overwhelmed by new flare-ups that prevent any measure of stabilization.<\/p>\n

Plarr\u2019s initial lack of taking responsibility for his actions becomes a vital theme which decides his fate in the nihilistic finale, and what manages to save an otherwise uneven film (if not temper Gere\u2019s efforts to maintain a semblance of a British accent) are the genuinely compelling performances by Caine as a drunk truly in love with absurdly young Clara, and Carrillo, who portrays Clara as neither a prostitute nor classic erotic jail-bait or femme fatale. She\u2019s a mixed up kid, and Carrillo\u2019s quiet performance style ensures the eroticism in the film\u2019s frank scenes feel natural instead of blatantly teasing.<\/p>\n

As Fortnum acknowledges in the film\u2019s affecting end scene, Plarr was jealous of the old drunk\u2019s ability to love, but a serious flaw in the script is a total lack of explanation (or inference) as to why Plarr was such an emotionally distant man, was driven by ego, and while a caring doctor, walked through life in a thoroughly non-committal daze.<\/p>\n

His father\u2019s torture in Uruguay may have forced Plarr to build up a wall of blandness for survival, but it also robs the film\u2019s central character of any memorable qualities, a problem worsened by the casting of Gere as a half-Brit. Hoskins is equally wobbly as a South American Colonel, but Gere\u2019s just so bland, lacking the ability to convey needed subtleties to convey Plarr\u2019s inner turmoil; he\u2019s not awful, but he\u2019s more successful as a modelesque doctor zipping in & out of impeccable suits than a deeply conflicted, morally blunted anti-hero.<\/p>\n

In spite of its pedigree, Mackenzie \u2013 who directed Caine in the solid thriller The Fourth Protocol<\/strong> (1987) \u2013 favours long takes for two-character exchanges where one character is consistently kept in soft focus, as though the greater star in any given shot is always entitled to master coverage. Stuart Baird\u2019s editing may be tight in the action scenes, but there are weird cuts that lack continuity and fluidity in standard transition and straight dialogue exchanges \u2013 either due to bad coverage, or moments of odd editorial judgment.<\/p>\n

More effective is Stanley Myers\u2019 largely synth score, which is admittedly dated but in tune with Phil Meheux\u2019 gorgeous lighting and crisp cinematography; this is a decidedly eighties drama, but the muted pastel colours \u2013 pink, green, brown \u2013 are very tasteful, and the compositions quite ravishing. Myers\u2019 music is supposedly based around a central theme by Paul McCartney (!) with guitar work from John Williams (Myers had previously collaborated with guitarist Williams on The Deer Hunter<\/strong>), and there\u2019s extra music contributions from Richard Harvey.<\/p>\n

Certainly in need of\u00a0 proper HD widescreen \/ stereo release, The Honorary Consul<\/strong>\u2019s a flawed but intriguing late-Greene adaptation, and the supporting cast is quite memorable: Elpidia \/ Elpedia Carillo also appeared in a string of American films – The Border<\/strong> (1982), Under Fire<\/a> <\/strong>(1983), Salvador<\/a><\/strong> (1986), Let\u2019s Get Harry <\/strong>(1986), and Predator<\/strong> (1987) \u2013 before scaling back her career; A Martinez would make a bigger splash in daytime soaps, starting with Santa Barbara <\/strong>(1984-1992); and Joaquim de Almeida would become best-known as the delightful mean Bucho in Robert Rodriguez\u2019 Desperado<\/strong> (1995).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2014 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB \u00a0<\/a>— \u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a> —\u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film version of Graham Greene\u2019s 1973 novel The Honorary Consul (released in the U.S. as Beyond the Limit) features a high-end cast and crew, but the dourness of the material coupled with a flat screenplay by playwright Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) make this kidnapping crisis set somewhere in northern Argentina rather dull…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-2C4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10057,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10048\/revisions\/10057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}