Madagascar Skin (1995/Water Bearer DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: C+
Chris
Newby’s Madagascar Skin (1995) is an
attempt to do an Existential gay film with John Hannah (now a big British TV
star with shows like Out Of The Blue,
McCallum, Rebus & New Street Law,
some of which we have already reviewed) as a gay man who cannot fit into the
modern world, lands up getting lost after a storm and then lands up on a beach
where he digs up an older man (Bernard Hill) who also turns out to be gay and
starts having a relationship with him.
The
actors are good together, but by the end of its 93 minutes, it does not say or
do much. Even worse, with so much talent
and promise, never manages to make the big statement of a similar film like The Noah (1974, reviewed elsewhere on
this site) and is not the breakthrough it should have been. Instead, it is yet another example of how
quickly the Gay New Wave burned out.
The
letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is not bad, yet has too many moments of detail and
depth troubles, as well photographed as it is by Oliver Curtis. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is faint, with
many moments of no dialogue at all. A
brief color short called Flicker is the only extra.
- Nicholas Sheffo
