Underdog Drama
Underdog Drama
By Cesare A.X. Syjuco [Video Troll]
Published in: The Manila Times, December 07, 1987
SO fond are we of stories flavored with human conflict that the underdog drama has become our all-time favorite form of entertainment. "Bucking the odds" is by far the theme of preference, with whimsical fate cast in the double-role of muse and monster. Here's an assortment of readily-available titles that should warm the hearts of armchair mountaineers:
A FLAME TO THE PHOENIX — Even those of us who excel in general knowledge probably think of Poland only as the birthplace of Chopin, Solidarity and the Pope. To be sure, World War II had virtually erased this once-proud nation from the map, making it a dark spectre of its former self languishing behind the Iron Curtain. Set in 1939, immediately before the German invasion that plunged most of Europe into the Great War, this sensitive portrayal of a small cross-section of Polish society caught in the swirling undercurrent of imminent disaster is a rare cinematic gem that ponders the thin line between dignity and utter foolishness. The "it can't happen here" syndrome eventually culminates in a ridiculous cavalry charge against armored German panzers, an irony that catches Poland napping. The Poles actually believed that their spit-polish army of 300,000 was led by the best light cavalry in the world, and perhaps they were right. What someone neglected to tell them was that the rules of armed conflict had changed somewhat since the Napoleonic wars. A must-see starring Frederick Treves, Ann Firbank, Malcolm Jamieson, Benedict Taylor, Lucy Hornak and Paul Geoffrey. William Braynes directs for Granada (UK) television.
BLUFFING IT — Jack Dugan has worked his way up to Production Foreman in a large steel mill, carrying his dark secret tucked well under his hardhat. A community leader doubling as championship coach of the local hockey team, he seems every inch the ideal working-class hero, loved and admired by his peers. But like an estimated 15,000,000 working Americans today, Jack Dugan went through high school without ever learning how to read and write, getting by on guesswork and forever claiming to have poor eyesight. Life can really be tough on a guy like Jack, who guards his secret even from his own kids. Unable to read street signs and restaurant menus, he sometimes finds himself in the ladies' washroom by mistake. When his employers at the steel mill decide to make the switch to a fully-automated assembly line, Jack gets sacked for being unable to punch data into a computer, and his life suddenly teeters on the precipice. Dennis Weaver and Janet Carrol star in this poignant tale of personal torment and perseverance made for US television with a grant from Nabisco.
THE RACE FOR THE DOUBLE HELIX — A comely English bacteriologist and an American whiz kid hell-bent on making a name for himself team up to snipe data from research specialists on two continents and go on to win the 1962 Nobel Prize for their discovery of the structure of DNA. Starring Jeff Goldblum, Tim Pigott-Smith, Alan Howard and Juliet Stevenson, this immensely well-crafted film from the US Arts & Entertainment Network questions the ethical standards of two opposing schools of thought. On the one hand, our shy heroes are soundly ostracized for poking into the lifetime work of their elders and reaping the rewards for themselves. And on the other hand, the acute paranoia that shrouds scientific research and renders specific areas of concern into the personal property of particular scientists seems at once selfish and counter-productive. "What good is science if it isn't fun?" asks Pigott-Smith in the early going. Goldblum carries much of the acting load with his usual wild-eyed antics, but will probably disappoint the great majority of his fans by failing to mutate into a salivating insect at closing time. Great video fare despite the queer dialogue.
DRUMS ALONG BALMORAL DRIVE — When the African state of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) sheds the settlers' yoke by reversing the color-coded socio-political structure, the white community of predominantly-British descent finds itself scratching out an uneasy peace with its back against the wall. Good ol' George finds himself having to kowtow to a black buck from Cambridge who buys into the firm he's worked for all his life, and the obligatory cocktails have him breaking bread with dark-skinned rabble. As tragic as "The Watermelon Man," this red-neck's nightmare of a video drama, produced by the BBC, survives fairly well on mega-doses of poetic justice. Climbers keepers, by jove!
THE COMPETITION — Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving play a pair of ultra-talented young pianists from opposite sides of the track who are pitted against each other in a prestigious competition for nimble-fingered contestants. Irving is only 23, a half-hearted competitor with oodles of time to grow and a fat bank account to fall back on. Dreyfuss is out on a limb, nearing the cut-off age for piano competitions and desperately in need of a win to rescue himself from an ignominious future as a keyboard instructor. Half a do-or-die movie is better than none at all, and the film navigates a windy course with relative ease by virtue of a storyline that can't be beaten. Believe it; the tension itself is worth the price of admission.
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Cesare A.X. Syjuco, “Underdog Drama” (page 1 of 1), The Manila Times, December 07, 1987
