Hugo Weaving, Barlow and Chambers, Dadah is Death,

n.  Hugo Weaving ~ Dadah is Death 

aka   Barlow and Chambers: A Long Way Home 

AU Mini Series 1988:  (170mins) 
Hugo Weaving content : approx  40% 
Character: Geoffrey Chambers ~ smooth, calm,  isolated nice-guy drug smuggler
Cast: Julie Christie   Barbara Barlow, Hugo Weaving   Geoffrey Chambers, John Polson   Kevin Barlow,  Sarah Jessica Parker  Rachel Goldman, Noah Taylor  Andrew Barlow 
Dir: Jerry London   Wri: Bill Kerby
Availablity: deleted. 2nd hand video (rare) available in UK, AU (Barlow and Chambers)
and US (Dadah is Death).

Hugo Weaving: Dadah is Death, Barlow and Chambers Plot/Comments:

Although both are based on true stories, this is the flipside to the glossier, more 'dramatic' Bangkok Hilton. There are no major plot arcs, daring escapes or action-packed cleverness: it is simply the story of two young men, apparently destined for totally different lives, who through misfortune, opportunism and ill-judgement, end up sharing the same deaths.
         Kevin Barlow (John Polson) is the working class son of debt-ridden British immigrants and has a long history of juvenile delinquency and adult misdemeanours. After arriving in a new city, he hitches a lift with sophisticated, smooth and confident Geoffrey Chambers (Hugo Weaving). They part ways and live separate lives. 
     Several months later, Chambers crashes his car, killing his girlfriend; driven by guilt and self-loathing, with nothing to stay out of danger for, the casual-dealer-turned straight decides to smuggle a shipment of heroin. Although he will travel to Thailand to make the payment, he needs a mule to actually carry the stuff back; by complete fluke, he meets up again with Barlow,  who is now down on his luck and desperate.
Hugo Weaving, Barlow and Chambers, Dadah is Death, Shades
  As they journey through Thailand, they find common ground in their mutual sense of failure and self-disgust. However, the 'simpler' and more naïve Barlow begins to fall apart as the realisation of the risk begins to dawn on him: everywhere they go, he sees the English-language government posters warning against smuggling: 'Dadah (drugs) is Death'. 
      Feeling a sense of responsibility and worried about Barlow ditching the drugs under duress, Chambers stays longer than he needs to, accompanying him to the airport: Barlow's nerves get the better of him, fear and uncontrollable sweat radiating out of him in equal measure. They are arrested, Barlow caves in under pressure, the charge is made and the trials begin; both men staying friends (though never close) while their lawyers continue with defences that hinge on successfully blaming the other man and sending him to death.

Dadah is Death Gallery
Dadah is Death Interview
Back:The Dirtwater Dynasty
Next:  Don's Party
Web Weaving

      As they are confined in a sweltering black hole of a prison, run by sadistic guards and populated with other no-hopers on their way to death, Barlow's indomitable mother (Julie Christie) pursues the media to try and put diplomatic pressure on her son's release. However, it backfires dramatically, forcing the Thai authorities to make a very public example out of the two men.
      With no hope of escape or release, both men are forced to come to terms with themselves and their own impending death:  Barlow becomes stronger and fatalistic, while Chambers begins to lose his veneer of smooth confidfence.
     The final scenes are of the two hooded men shuffling along the corridors; nooses pushed over their heads, the mechanised gallows clank into operation as they drop lifelessly through the hatch.

    This is a hard hitting miniseries which is based heavily on Barbara Barlow's side of the story. However, it suffers as a result as there is too much focus on her fight for her son's freedom, strangely bogging down the dramatic tension of the Thai scenes. That said, Christie is suitably fierce (if over-used) as the charismatic but pushy mother and an early performance from Noah Taylor shows his skill in developing awkward outsiders, even with his few lines.
    John Polson is highly effective in showing the good-natured, bumbling, low-aspirational innocence of Kevin Barlow and has excellent onscreen chemistry with Hugo Weaving, who shows Geoffrey Chambers to be more than flash, persuasive and self-destructive but also sensitive and vulnerable in his isolation and guilt.
Hugo Weaving, Barlow and Chambers, Dadah is Death, last request

Typical Hugo Weaving Quotes:

  • Finally losing his cool as Barbara Barlow's last publicity ploy pushes the Thai authorities too far:"Tell your moronic mother I said thanks: that publicity pig guaranteed us the gallows from the start. Your family is English for god's sake ~ no wonder the Empire's gone. Don't you Pommies understand? Don't you know when to keep quiet? We're being hanged ~ it's a matter of pride"
  • "I'm sorry for this, for bringing you here"
  • "Kev, mate, what am I going to do? I'm afraid"
 Comments and Queries:
  • Weaving has now  completed three TV projects about the Thai death penalty for heroin trafficking. For  the right side of the prison bars in Thailand, see Bangkok Hilton. The Bite had him as the ex-pat tough Aussie husband of a woman arrested for heroin smuggling.
  • John Polson  was also in For Love Alone , and directed Weaving in the 1994 short film, What's Going on, Frank?  See The Usual Suspectsfor a huge list of recurring Weaving co-workers.
  • Curiously, the personality and physical types of these characters, and their families, are very similar to Michael Wall's 1989 play Amongst Barbarians, even down to the 'Chambers' chracter's breakdown at the end.


 

Hugo Weaving content: 

Weaving was highly concerned that Chambers' family would feel that their son's portrayal in the series as a comparatively worldly, flash ex-dealer, was biased, unflattering and insensitive. 
     However, his performance is constantly sympathetic, and he never comes over as the villain as the piece. 
Hugo Weaving, Barlow and Chambers, Dadah is Death, Shadow

  Chambers  is seen as constantly isolated, whether physically or emotionally: while Barlow receives bucketloads of letters and photographs from his family, all he has is an old wallet photograph of the dog he once shared with his fiancé. 
    His last request is met by spending the night before his death with a Thai prostitute, who smiles at his unintelligible english apologies for the state of his cell and desperate need for physical tenderness, rather than lust.

Dadah is Death Gallery