The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Australia)
August 3, 2002
Molokai Cocktail.
Byline: Simon Plant

HE HAD only a few minutes to die. After sweating for hours under heavy make-up, David Wenham was told there was no time to rehearse his death scene in Molokai -- Paul Cox's epic movie about legendary Belgian priest Father Damien de Veuster.

Moreover, the scene -- filmed in suffocating tropical heat -- would have to be shot in one take.

``There was only one opportunity before the make-up started lifting,'' the actor recalls. ``So, yes, the pressure we were under was tough. But in those situations, you just rise to it. Adrenalin gets you through.''

Anyone who saw his lethal performance in the film The Boys or in the Melbourne stage production of True West knows Wenham possesses deep reserves of energy and stamina. But in playing Father Damien -- the devout missionary who gives up his life to help leprosy sufferers -- the former SeaChange star also needed faith.

On-set dramas engulfed the four-month shoot. Legal action complicated post-production for years. And distribution delays threatened to sink Molokai forever.

Through it all, Wenham held fast to the nobility of Father Damien's story and displayed the patience of a saint.

``It has been an interesting time,'' he says, with Diver Dan understatement.

``But the flip side is that for Paul and I it was the most incredible journey and one that will always be extremely dear to us.''

During the 1800s, a leprosy epidemic swept the Hawaiian islands. Sufferers of the contagious disease were banished to Kalaupapa, a remote and rugged corner of Molokai Island. It remains unchanged today: volcanic cliffs rear up from a wild sea while ferocious gales batter its lushly forested slopes.

``Molokai is quite possibly the most beautiful place I've been to,'' Wenham says. ``But, oh, so forbidding. You can only get in there by plane, the heat is extreme and the winds there are known to drive people mad.''

Behind the scenes, another kind of madness ensued as Cox and his Belgian producers fought for creative control of the multimillion-dollar film.

``They had a different vision for it,'' Wenham says, ``which was odd considering they approached Paul. They knew his history and his filmography. They'd have known, surely, that he was not one to saccharine-coat any film.''

Sacked, then reinstated, Cox finished the shoot. But with the film ready for editing, a new war broke out over how it should be cut. ``I was the meat in the sandwich and hoping the heart wouldn't be ripped out of it,'' Wenham says.

By early 1999, producer and director were fighting it out in a Brussels court. While judges upheld Cox's claim his artistic integrity had been infringed, only now is his preferred version getting a commercial release here.

``Paul sweated blood to make the film,'' Australasian distributor Natalie Miller says. ``David's performance was one that just had to be seen.''

As usual, Wenham's preparation was meticulous. First he researched the selfless life of Father Damien. Then he mastered a convincing Belgian accent. But Wenham only ``came to know the man and understand how he was seen'' by visiting Molokai and living with former patients still resident on the peninsula. The advent of sulfone drugs in the 1940s put the disease in remission and sufferers are no longer contagious.

``I remember arriving and thinking, `I can't possibly live up to this task'. I could feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulders,'' Wenham says.

Cox earned the trust of the Molokai people. When the producers sacked Cox, they threatened to close production. Later, they volunteered to appear before the cameras -- deformities and all.

``It's hard to grasp how big a decision that was,'' Wenham says. ``They'd given permission for us to film on the island -- which was no small thing -- but to allow themselves to be put on the screen was so courageous.''

Molokai has already had its South Seas premiere. Fresh from a triumphant screening in Toronto, Cox flew to the island with his movie and organised a makeshift cinema. The locals loved it.

``They feel they own the film,'' Wenham says.

``And for Paul and I that's immensely satisfying. I mean, our battles were so small when you put them against people who have suffered so much.''

Wenham admits that during the shoot, ``I had to pinch myself sometimes''.

But, no, he wasn't seeing things. His Molokai co-stars really did include Peter O'Toole, Derek Jacobi, Leo McKern, Kris Kristofferson and Sam Neill.

O'Toole's cameo as a Protestant medical worker in the latter stages of leprosy is a stand-out.

``Peter and I talked about the relationship our characters had,'' Wenham says, ``and out of that I think we developed a lovely chemistry. He was exactly what I expected. Very professional, slightly eccentric, and great company.''