Harlequin (film)

For other uses of "Harlequin", see Harlequin (disambiguation).

Harlequin
Harlequin film poster under alternate title
Directed by	Simon Wincer
Produced by	Antony I. Ginnane
Written by	Everett De Roche
Starring	Robert Powell David Hemmings Carmen Duncan Broderick Crawford Gus Mercurio
Music by	Brian May
Cinematography	Gary Hansen
Editing by	Adrian Carr
Distributed by	Greater Union Organisation
Release date(s)	20 March 1980
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English

Harlequin, known as Dark Forces in the USA, is a 1980 Australian film starring Robert Powell, Carmen Duncan, David Hemmings and Broderick Crawford. The screenplay is by Everett De Roche, the music by Brian May and the film is directed by Simon Wincer.

The film is a modern-day version of the Rasputin story, and the major characters have the same first names as Rasputin and the Romanov royal family, and their family name 'Rast' is simply 'Tsar' backwards. Hemmings plays an up-and-coming senator, Nick Rast, whose young son is terminally ill with leukaemia. A mysterious faith healer, Gregory Wolfe (Powell), appears and seems to cure the boy. Rast's wife Sandy (Duncan) falls in love with Wolfe, but the powerful interests behind Rast's career, represented by geriatric monster Doc Wheelan (Crawford) are less happy with events.

DVD releases

In Australia, Harlequin was released on an All Region DVD by Umbrella Entertainment on Wednesday, 27 October 2004. It was presented in a remastered 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and Special Features were an Audio Commentary by director Simon Wincer and producer Antony I. Ginnane, a theatrical trailer and a photo gallery.

In the US, Harlequin was released as Dark Forces by Image Ent. on 8 June 2004. It was presented in 2.35:1 Widescreen, with Behind The Scenes Photo Gallery, Filmographies, Isolated Music Score and an Audio Commentary by director Simon Wincer and producer Antony I. Ginnane.

See also

• Cinema of Australia

External links

• Harlequin at the Internet Movie Database
• Harlequin at the National Film and Sound Archive