| Evil Angels | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Fred Schepisi |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Evil Angels byJohn Bryson |
| Produced by | Verity Lambert |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ian Baker |
| Edited by | Jill Bilcock |
| Music by | Bruce Smeaton |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 121 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[2] |
| Box office | $6.9 million (United States)[3] |
Evil Angels (released asA Cry in the Dark outsideAustralia andNew Zealand) is a 1988drama film directed byFred Schepisi. The screenplay by Schepisi andRobert Caswell is based onJohn Bryson's 1985 book of the same name. It chronicles the case ofAzaria Chamberlain, a nine-week-old baby girl who disappeared from a campground nearUluru in August 1980, and the struggle of her parents,Michael Chamberlain andLindy Chamberlain, to prove their innocence to a public convinced that they were complicit in her death.Meryl Streep andSam Neill star as the Chamberlains.
The film was released less than two months after the Chamberlains were exonerated by theNorthern Territory Court of Appeals of all charges filed against them.[4] The film received generally favourable reviews, with Streep's performance receiving high praise and a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Actress, but was a box office disappointment, grossing only $6.9 million against its $15 million budget.
Seventh-day Adventist Church pastorMichael Chamberlain, his wifeLindy Chamberlain, their two sons, and their nine-week-old daughterAzaria are on a camping holiday in the AustralianOutback. With the baby sleeping in their tent, the family enjoys abarbecue with their fellow campers when a cry is heard. Lindy returns to the tent to check and is certain she sees adingo with something in its mouth running off as she approaches. When she discovers the infant missing, everyone joins forces to search for her, without success. It is assumed what Lindy saw was the animal carrying Azaria, and a subsequentinquest rules her account of events as true.
However, the tide of public opinion soon turns against the Chamberlains. For many, Lindy seems too stoic, cold-hearted, and accepting of the disaster that has befallen the family. Gossip about her begins to swell and soon is accepted as statements of fact. The couple's religious beliefs are not widely practiced in the country, and when the media report a rumour that the name Azaria means "sacrifice in the wilderness", the public is quick to believe they decapitated their baby with a pair of scissors as part of a bizarre religious rite.
Law-enforcement officials find new witnesses,forensics experts, andcircumstantial evidence and reopen the investigation, eventually charging Lindy with murder. Seven months pregnant, she ignores her attorneys' advice to play to the jury's sympathy and appears stoic on the stand, convincing some onlookers of her guilt. As the trial progresses, Michael's faith in his religion and his belief in his wife falter, and he stumbles through his testimony, suggesting he is concealing the truth. In October 1982, Lindy is found guilty and immediately sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour, while Michael is found guilty as an accessory and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
More than three years later, while searching for the body of an English tourist who fell fromUluru, police discover a dingo lair with clothing that is identified as the jacket Lindy had insisted Azaria was wearing over her jumpsuit, which had been recovered early in the investigation. Lindy is immediately released from prison, the case is reopened and all convictions against the Chamberlains are overturned. The film ends with Michael commenting on the ongoing battle to clear the family's name.
John Bryson's bookEvil Angels was published in 1985 and film rights were bought byVerity Lambert, for Thorn EMI who had planned to co-produce it with Thorn EMI's Australian distribution partner Greater Union, who got the interest ofMeryl Streep. Robert Caswell wrote a script andFred Schepisi agreed to direct. The movie was one of the most expensive and elaborate ever shot in Australia, with 350 speaking cast and 4,000 extras.[5]
Evil Angels grossed A$3,006,964 at the box office in Australia.[6] This was considered a disappointment considering the publicity and subject matter.[5]
In his review inThe New York Times,Vincent Canby said the film "has much of the manner of a televisiondocudrama, ultimately being a rather comforting celebration of personal triumph over travails so dread and so particular that they have no truly disturbing, larger application. YetA Cry in the Dark is better than that, mostly because of another stunning performance by Meryl Streep, who plays Lindy Chamberlain with the kind of virtuosity that seems to redefine the possibilities of screen acting ... Though Sam Neill is very good as Lindy Chamberlain's tormented husband, Miss Streep supplies the guts of the melodrama that are missing from the screenplay."
"Mr. Schepisi has chosen to present the terrible events in the outback in such a way that there's never any doubt in the audience's mind about what happened. The audience doesn't worry about the fate of the Chamberlains as much as it worries about the unconvincing ease with which justice is miscarried. Mr. Schepisi may have followed the facts of the case, but he has not made them comprehensible in terms of the film. The manner by which justice miscarries is the real subject of the movie. In this screenplay, however, it serves only as a pretext for a personal drama that remains chilly and distant ... As a result, the courtroom confrontations are so weakened thatA Cry in the Dark becomes virtually a one-character movie. It's Mr. Schepisi's great good fortune that that one character is portrayed by the incomparable Meryl Streep."[7]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times observed, "Schepisi is successful in indicting the court of public opinion, and his methodical (but absorbing) examination of the evidence helps us understand the state's circumstantial case. In the lead role, Streep is given a thankless assignment: to show us a woman who deliberately refused to allow insights into herself. She succeeds, and so, of course, there are times when we feel frustrated because we do not know what Lindy is thinking or feeling. We begin to dislike the character, and then we know how the Australian public felt. Streep's performance is risky and masterful."[8]
InThe Washington Post, Rita Kempley said, "Streep – yes, with another perfect accent – brings her customary skillfulness to the part. It's not a showy performance, but the heroine's internal struggle seems to come from the actress' pores. Neill, who costarred with Streep inPlenty, is quite good as a humble, bewildered sort who finally breaks under cross-examination."[9]Variety made note of the "intimate, incredible detail in the classy, disturbing drama."[10]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 94% from 31 reviews.[11]
In 2005, the phrase "The dingo took my baby!", was nominated by theAmerican Film Institute in its list ofAFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.[12] The quote, often incorrectly quoted as "a dingo ate my baby", became part of pop culture after the release of the movie, appearing on such shows asSeinfeld,The Simpsons,Frasier,Supernatural,Buffy the Vampire Slayer, andBaby Daddy, as well asTropic Thunder andThe Rugrats Movie.
In June 2008, the AFI revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community.Evil Angels was acknowledged as ninth best in thecourtroom drama genre.[13][14]
