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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 12/18/2008 : 11:18:28
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Dean Spanley
Fuelled by the philosophies of his literary peers as well as the heritage of fantastical tales from his Irish roots, aristocratic Lord Dunsany had fought in both the Boer and First World wars before turning his attention to writing. Dean Spanley represents a tiny fraction of his prodigious output, including volumes of best-selling poetry and stageplays produced internationally, including on Broadway and the West End. But stories dealing in the borderland between reality and a more opaque world were his forte.
Toa Fraser's film serves up this slice of Victorian delight like a cake that looks familiar but leaves an exotic taste you can't quite identify. The story is bizarre and fascinating, setting up an enclosed world contgemplating matters of the soul and the nature of an afterlife should it prove to exist.
Sam Neill is excellent as the eponymous priest who becomes a frequent guest in the home of Fisk the father - [Peter O'Toole with the wide-eyed wonder of a painted doll counterpointing his more curmudgeonly moments] - and the crisp Jeremy Northam as Fisk junior, who also narrates. It's really between father and son that the story lies. Why is there such tension, far beyond expected Oedipal rivalry. And what has a dog to do with it.
But the father is edging toward the grave and the son needs to melt the glacier between them if he is ever to create a life of his own.
Watching with an efficient yet kindly eye is faithful household retainer Mrs Brimley. Judy Parfitt certainly deserves a supporting actress nomination, but will probably be forgotten since the film will not attract the box-office gross that influences these things.
If you can stay with the strangeness of the story, it's the scene in which Spanley drinks a bit too much of his prized tokay wine that causes the scales to fall from the eyes of Fisk Sr. The scene in which the dog barks.
Can you hear it?
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Dean Spanley
