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Review: Lizzie Guilfoyle
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: Old Friends, New Stories (behind the
scenes documentary).
THE Thorn Birds first captivated television viewers, 120 million
of them, over 20 years ago and, justifiably, won a Golden Globe
for Best Mini Series of 1983. Available now on DVD, Colleen McCullough's
epic story of a forbidden love that endures against insurmountable
odds, looks set to delight audiences all over again.
It all begins in 1915, when Paddy Cleary, a poor New Zealand
farm labourer, moves his wife and children to Drogheda, the vast
Australian sheep station owned by Mary Carson, Paddy's wealthy,
childless and aging sister.
Waiting to greet them at the station is Mary's priest, the young,
ambitious and handsome Ralph de Bricassart who is instantly drawn
to the child Meggie, only daughter in a family of sons.
A bond, based on mutual love and admiration, is forged but, as
Meggie grows to womanhood, the nature of their love takes on new
meaning - for Meggie, it's the natural manifestation of years
of loving Ralph; while for Ralph, it becomes an emotional battlefield
as, for the first time in his life, his love for God is challenged
by one of the flesh.
It's an emotive subject which handled insensitively, could so
easily become merely tacky. That it doesn't owes much to the performances
of Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward, who make the characters
of Ralph and Meggie so utterly believable.
A further measure of Ward's performance can be judged by my initial
reaction to her first screen appearance as the adult Meggie.
For having read the book and visualized her in my mind's eye,
I was somewhat disappointed. Yet, in no time at all, I was completely
won over.
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And Barbara Stanwyck, as Mary, is magnificent. Her impassioned
outpouring to Ralph reveals the inner torment of a young girl
trapped inside the body of an old woman - a sentiment that will
surely strike a note with older viewers. And it is Mary who ultimately
seals Ralph and Meggie's fate.
The Thorn Birds is a deeply moving story with strong
characters and an equally strong supporting cast.
Jean Simmonds is Meggie's mother, Fee, who harbours a dark secret;
Piper Laurie and Earl Holliman are Anne and Luddie Mueller, the
childless couple who care deeply for Meggie; Bryan Brown is Luke
O'Neill, Ralph's rival for Meggie's love and lastly, but by no
means least, Christopher Plummer is Cardinal Vittorio di Contini-Verchese,
Ralph's friend and mentor in Rome.
The story does, in fact, have its roots in a legend about 'a
bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any
other creature on the face of the Earth.
From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree
and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among
the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest
spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the
lark and the nightingale.'
The message is a simple one - that the best is only bought at
the cost of great pain. And so it is with Ralph and Meggie.
Music does, of course, play an important part in creating atmosphere
and conveying emotion.
The theme tune is light and brisk - like the odd kangaroo (or
two) occasionally seen bounding across Drogheda's acres. The love
theme, on the other hand, is a haunting melody that captures the
imagination and will have you humming it, long after you've switched
off.
Although not adhering strictly to the book, The Thorn Birds
loses none of its original impact and with the long, dark evenings
ahead, will make compulsive viewing. But, be warned - keep a box
of tissues to hand.
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