MovieChat Forums > Harlequin (1980) Discussion > Some questions (with possible spoilers)

Some questions (with possible spoilers)

posted 14 years ago by MyNameIsSilence
4 replies | jump to latest

Just saw it for the first time (the American version, Dark Forces) and am a bit confused. Most prominently in my mind are the issues of what the heck Wolfe is and where he came from--who does he work for? The script was really good, entrancing, especially due to Powell's performance, and I tried to listen for clues on who he was working for and what his motivations were for helping the politician. I am also wondering why, if he really was supposed to be good in the end (was he??), why did he do some rather evil things, like slice a bird in half with a cymbol (just an illusion?? the movie seemed to suggest that, but in any case, it made me turn a bit more away from seeing him as still possibly good, and the blood splattering was kind of convincing as an indication that some little creature did suffer at his hand), his hypnotising and raping of the maid (what purpose did this serve? Why did he do it?), his admittance that he really didn't care too much for Alex (he called him stupid at some point, or something like that, in that scene where he comes in the bedroom and takes off his wig and facial attachments), and dangle that poor child over the cliff like that?

Also, what was Wolfe's connection to the maid pouring cleaning chemical all over her head? (I can feel a facepalm coming on...) And why didn't we see her again? Why did the little boy at the end suddenly have on the clowny makeup? Was that actually Wolfe, or what? I know he's an illusionist and likes to be all flashy, but why did he have to wear all those odd costumes and makeup? And (forgive my lack of brain) did he not really lace that kid's cake with corticosteriods (or whatever)? Also, did he die and come back to life in the kitchen, or was he just not really fatally wounded? If he was able to survive being shot like that because of his "specialness", then why would he die for real (at least bodily) the second time around (when he was strangling that one guy through the window)?

I didn't catch everything that appeared on the computer screen about Wolfe toward the beginning. It appeared that a real (non-mystical) man had lived and died some decades earlier; what made him become the being we saw in the movie?

I would greatly appreciate anyone answering these questions, even if they are just taking stabs at them, as I have been doing since finishing the movie. I'd like to think I would understand this stuff better if I get another opportunity to watch the film.

[–] moysant 14 years ago

It is left open to interpretation, so I'm not really sure (and I just watched it today on DVD).

The rape of the maid was really confusing because it was unclear when he'd 'raped' her. Sure he stopped at her open door while she was brushing her hair and she turned and took her robe off (he had those mesmerising eyes she said later). I've no idea if that was the scene which she later claims was rape (she said at the party that he had come in when she was in the bath and used his magical powers to hypnotise her before attacking her). The washing her hair with bleach (I'm assuming that is why she screamed) was stupid because what maid goes and has a bath during a dinner party? It is also never referred to again. It didn't kill her as far as I could figure out.

I think all these unanswered questions was just a bad script - they built suspense by not explaining anything and then didn't finish it off. The hokey ending with the boy turning and having the harlequin face paint on was just one of those dramatic endings (had the soul of Wolfe invaded the boy? Or was the boy just wearing facepaint as some sort of game?).

As for the file on him (his birth and death) I'm sure the real Gregory Wolfe was 10 years old when he died (born 1947, died in the 50s). The 'magician' had stolen his identity.

So, it is possible that some sort of superior being actually invades the bodies of boys and 'lives on in them' until they are ready to move to a new host. That would explain why Wolfe predicts his death, teaches the boy some magic powers, and then lets himself be killed in the end. The boy wearing the harlequin makeup indicates he is actually Wolfe now.

If that was what it was meant to mean then they should have made it more clear.

It bugged me that the story moved from the mother/boy to the father/politician - it just moved the story in the wrong direction in the end.

But Powell was a good-looking actor and I was impressed in his handsome/creepy persona.

[–] Phroggy 14 years ago

IMHO the "rape" a,d the cake laced with stuff could be just a trick from the powers-that-be and has no other purpose than to put the politician back on the track. The maid could have been bought — but I guess it's left to the viewer's imagination. Others like the bleached scene (Just because some producer shouted "It's a horror movie ! You gotta have bood n'boobs for the trailer !" ?) and the discovery and hinted-at subsequent autopsy were just sloppy writing.
Come to think of it, Ginnane produced "Patrick" and "Thirst", which did not made much sense either…
(BTW I thought that Powell had some Tim Curry-esque vibe going on…)

[–] Mandy_Whitsands 14 years ago

and the discovery and hinted-at subsequent autopsy were just sloppy writing.

wasn't in my version of the film

[–] Mandy_Whitsands 14 years ago

As for the file on him (his birth and death) I'm sure the real Gregory Wolfe was 10 years old when he died (born 1947, died in the 50s). The 'magician' had stolen his identity.

So, it is possible that some sort of superior being actually invades the bodies of boys and 'lives on in them' until they are ready to move to a new host. That would explain why Wolfe predicts his death, teaches the boy some magic powers, and then lets himself be killed in the end. The boy wearing the harlequin makeup indicates he is actually Wolfe now.

you are perfectly right on this. And it's pretty clear. I wonder why so many people find the movie confusing ??