Review of Cosi (1996) by Danielle S — 10 Apr 2008

The basic premise of staging Mozart's comic opera `Cosi Fan Tutte' in a mental institution would seem like a recipe for disaster, but here it is also used as an opportunity to lightly explore some aspects of the human condition.

An inexperienced but aspirational, if not exactly talented, director (Lewis) is given the task of putting on a variety show for the hospital's aloof administrator (Tony Llewellyn-Jones; Picnic at Hanging Rock), his like-wise ?caring' colleagues (excepting Colin Friels as the compassionate Errol) and the minister for health.

Ben Mendelsohn (The Year My Voice Broke) in his mainly low-key performance as Lewis is a superb foil to the rest of the manic protagonists. An overwrought Barry Otto (Strictly Ballroom & Lilian's Story) is Roy with his rather grandiose visions who commandeers this project and coerces Lewis into rebelling against his directive, to stage the opera instead.

Mark Joffe's Australian bawdy and riotous romp is played unashamedly for laughs, very much in the style of `Strictly Ballroom' and `Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert', rather than `One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest', the benchmark for films of psychiatric patients finding themselves, lacking its depths of pathos and tragedy.

In fact all the various psychoses are portrayed for their potential humour and the extremeness of the asylum residents' conditions are somehow subdued, presumably by medication, to enable them to work together.

The `clients' backgrounds are sketchily drawn and we are not allowed to dwell for too long on how damaged so many people become by the behaviour of others towards them. An offensive pyromaniac (David Wenham) tells us how he tortured cats and in a rare serious moment, suicidally depressed Ruth (Pamela Rabe; Sirens) is seen toying with slashing her wrists (we are told the difference between the cry for help and the sure-fire method), but the film swiftly diverts our attention.

The central issue of the opera regarding double standards by men towards women's fidelity is touched upon, but not developed satisfyingly, with the examination of Lewis' own relationship and his attraction to the talented member of his cast, Julie, a recovering junkie.

Meanwhile Lewis' parasitic `mate', Nick (Aden Young), his ill-advised inspiration as a director, is seen to be a pretentious buffoon with half-baked theories such as `the crucial key is to find out what sort of animal the actor is', and unsuccessfully tries to make a cuckold of him.

If you are able to ignore the implausibility of it all, and to see a group of socially challenged individuals overcoming some of their problems to step out of themselves, if only for a brief moment on the stage, then you may still find your spirit uplifted and enjoy this as I did.