As a warm portrait of cinematographer Don McAlpine, Cathy Henkel’s Show Me the Magic is every bit as charming and forthright as the man himself.
an exceedingly well-crafted documentary
An exceedingly well-crafted documentary about one of Australian cinema’s true gentlemen, Show Me the Magic combines archival footage with McAlpine’s own recollections and charts the professional career of the master craftsman from his news crew days (McAlpine was the last man to film Prime Minister Harold Holt before he vanished) to his work on some of today’s Hollywood blockbusters. These glimpses reveal a man who takes his work seriously but not himself. Henkel’s approach reflects the same respectful tone and first-person recollections as her 2005 biography of English comedian Spike Milligan, I Told You I Was Ill.
The parade of talking heads with whom McAlpine has worked, from Hugh Jackman and Gillian Armstrong to Baz Luhrmann, PJ Hogan and Gavin Hood (whose then in-production X-Men Origins: Wolverine features heavily), will delight buffs, though it’s clear from early on that the film’s title refers as much to McAlpine’s legacy as Henkel’s modus operandi. Though it’s unlikely that the genial McAlpine has too many closeted skeletons, no one is going to say a bad word about him for this project.
Likely more interesting to general audiences will be Henkel’s insight into McAlpine’s backstory. Henkel’s own intimate DV-shot camerawork follows the 78-year-old as he and his wife Jenette (herself a compelling and influential presence throughout the film) return to his birthplace, the trapped-in-time country town of Quandialla (at last census, population 312). Here, he reconnects with a distant past while ambling through the largely deserted streets; a chat with a lovely local couple, blissfully unaware of the man’s standing, and a cheeky beer with a childhood friend are genuine moments.
The film’s 74-minute running time may appear a tad too meagre to fully encapsulate McAlpine’s career achievements, but it ultimately feels about right. A Hollywood sojourn in which director Paul Mazursky, clearly melancholic and deeply endeared to his Aussie mate, effuses about the productions on which they collaborated – Moscow on the Hudson, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Tempest, Moon Over Parador – is nicely pitched in tone. But drinks in the offices of the film producers, where glasses are raised one more time for the great DP, feels tacked-on, as if a little more footage and one final hurrah were needed.
That said, there is clearly no doubting Henkel’s respect and affection for McAlpine. (They are real-life neighbours, sharing the idyllic surrounds of the New South Wales central coast community of MacMasters Beach.) The droll self-deprecation and industry skewering that McAlpine displayed during the post-screening Q&A at the recent Brisbane International Film Festival world premiere might have balanced the occasionally saintly reverence that casts a glow over Show Me the Magic, but one can’t begrudge Henkel or any fan of international cinema with having a wide-eyed sense of awe when in McAlpine’s presence.
