What if Oscar Wilde saw his play of Salome performed in an English brothel? Ken Russell imagined this scenario for his 1988 film Salome's Last Dance. I enjoyed this film a lot more than Crimes of Passion as Wilde's text compels Russell to slow his pace to something a little more contemplative but it's nonetheless disappointing Russell should try to make camp comedy from Wilde's only non-comedic play. But I can't deny the charms of Imogen Millais-Scott, the young woman who played Salome.
She was almost totally blind when she made the movie, too (her eyesight eventually recovered). It's not hard to see why Russell insisted on her casting even so. Her charming mannerisms, particularly the way she widens her eyes for emphasis, are accompanied by a soft, high pitched voice reminiscent of Glynis Johns. Every time she repeats the line, "Bring me the head of John the Baptist," is delicious.
Of course, Salome is not the first or last young woman who wished to degrade the man to whom she's attracted.
She gets a leg up on Herod, who would dominate her. But this is a tragedy so no-one wins.
It's a tragedy despite Russell's decision to include fart jokes and even a banana peel gag. Or I suppose that's another kind of tragedy. I waited with as much eager anticipation as Herod to see the Dance of the Seven Veils but Russell subverted this by having Salome dance with a man who also strips and editing the sequence so frantically it loses any of the beauty it might have had. I suppose Millais-Scott wasn't much of a dancer and being blind likely hampered her, too. But if Jennifer Beals could have a body double dance for her in Flashdance, Millais-Scott could've had one here.
Many of the costumes are directly modelled on Aubrey Beardsley's famous illustrations for the play. It made me want to see a black and white version in Wilde's original French. Without gags.
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