Nicole Kidman: A Kind of Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    “Although women are more positive than men about the prospect of marriage, they are generally less content with the reality of it,” Antony wrote in his 1995 book, Family Life: Adapting to Change. . “The dual goals of career and family are more easily achieved by men. For women these goals conflict and can cause severe problems. The fact that more women than men seek professional help during the years of child rearing, when their children reach adulthood and leave home, and when their spouses retire or die, reflects the great stresses brought to bear on women who carry the emotional responsibility for most family relationships.”
    Antony understood in 1995 what had perhaps escaped his attention while he and Janelle were busying raising Nicole and Antonia—and trying to pursue their individual careers, one more successfully than the other: namely, that Janelle had paid a high personal price for her devotion to the family unit.
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    After the release of Windrider , it was clear to everyone that Nicole was on a roll—down hill. Her next film, Watch the Shadows Dance (also known as Nightmaster in the United States ), was directed by Russian-born film-maker Mark Joffe. He had directed two television series—“Fast Lane” and “Carson’s Law”—but Watch the Shadows Dance was his first feature film.
    Nineteen-year-old Nicole was asked to play the role of Amy Gabriel, a high school student who gets involved with a group of fellow students that play war games with paint guns. The male lead was played by Tom Jennings, whose first film role was in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome . After completing work on Watch the Shadows Dance , he did one feature film and two television shows, then dropped out of public sight.
    Also co-starring with Nicole was Joanne Samuel, a twenty-nine-year-old veteran of ten feature films and television series, including “The Young Doctors” and Mad Max. Like Jennings, she did two more projects after work on Watch the Shadows Dance wrapped, then she, too, dropped out of sight.
    The plot of Watch the Shadows Dance revolves around the machinations of a mysterious karate teacher and the paint-gun wars, two separate themes that finally merge to create the dramatic tension in the story.
    Nicole does not have a single good line in the movie, but the camera loved her face and her mannerisms, despite the contrived tensions that constantly surrounded her. Some of the scenes seem to have been written especially for her. When a young man puts the moves on Nicole, commenting on her legs and arms, one of her “club” members steps in to protect her.  Nicole keeps her cool, but when the guy leaves, she chastises her friend for stepping in. “I can look after myself without your help,” she says. “I’ll do my own fighting, thank you.”
     As it turns out, the karate teacher is a crazed war veteran, a cocaine addict that kills a drug pusher (coincidentally the same youth who accosted Nicole earlier in the film). Jennings witnesses the murder and tells the karate teacher what he saw. Not wishing to be convicted of murder, the karate teacher shows up at the paint-gun games to silence Jennings. From that point on, the resolution of the conflict proceeds along an entirely predictable course.
    The acting in Watch the Shadows Dance was not spectacular, but it was within limits of other, more successful films in this genre. The idea of a story based on paint-gun warriors was a good one and the soundtrack, most of which was written and sung by Paul Kelly, was above average. The problems with the film lay in the manner in which it was directed and edited. Visually, it never achieved a life of its own.
    For Nicole, it represented another regrettable lapse in judgment. Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and she had made two bad films in a row. By the time 1986 ended, Nicole, although only nineteen, was pondering the end of life as she knew it.

Chapter 3
    THE CALM BEFORE THE