Maybe the story of a gold prospector who strikes it rich and becomes the wealthiest man ever is not prime material for a director like Nicolas Roeg. Of course, if he had adhered to the idea of man vs. wilderness in search of gold, he might have made something out of this. I got excited when I heard Wagner's "Das Rhinegold" on the soundtrack suggesting something creepy and sinister this way comes, or so it seemed. If this had been the story of a wealthy man who has nothing but despair for the rest of his days, this might also have been worthy of consideration. It seems that Roeg gets sidetracked again and again.
The gold prospector searching for gold in the Yukon territory for 15 years, Jack McCann (Gene Hackman), finally finds it - his search for it is consumed by his need to find it himself. Once he finds it, well, eureka indeed! Years pass as Jack has become dismissive and finds no joy in anything - as his daughter tearfully states, "he already died in 1925." Jack lives with his wife (Jane Lapotaire) on a Caribbean island with an estate named nothing less than, you guessed it, Eureka. Jack finds no solace from anything or anyone, not even his wife. His beautiful, upbeat daughter (Theresa Russell) is seeing a suave French playboy, Claude (Rutger Hauer), whom Jack hates. The playboy is so suave that he can consume a gold nugget with some wine and not burp, which drives Jack mad. Meanwhile, there is a business deal involving a Meyer Lansky-type mob boss (played by none other than Joe Pesci) who wants to build a casino on the island. Jack will have nothing to do with such a lucrative deal so we know he's doomed.
"Eureka" has Roeg indulging in endless montage scenes with my favorite being quick cuts to a stitch of dress, a string of pearls or a tablecloth or some other item with a similar color (red is the dominant color in some scenes). A voodoo practice followed by slithering snakes and an orgy of naked women writhing in orgasmic pleasures is certainly as ostentatiously presented as you might think, but it does drag on for a while. Then there's a vicious murder that leads to an endless courtroom scene with the accused Claude pleading for his life to his wife. The main thrust of the story, Jack himself, is sort of left suspended in the air while the Mob conspirators, the alcoholic wife, the perplexed daughter, and Jack's long-suffering lawyer take center stage. None of it is nearly as strong as Hackman's Jack, a character who has very little depth other than the love of finding gold, and not actually enjoying the luxuries of it.
"Eureka" is fascinating and troubling and, occasionally, too long-winded and frustrating to put up with. I will give Roeg credit for sticking to his whims about telling a story the way he wishes. He's an original but "Eureka" is more a series of strung-together, slovenly placed footnotes.
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