Dean Spanley

A film based on the idea that an early 20th century dean is the reincarnation of a dog ought to collapse under it's own whimsy. It's one thing for a character to talk about a past life but when that life is not human but canine all kind of potential trouble lies ahead. That Dean Spanley doesn't come across as completely frivolous and silly is due to the early scenes, which combine comedy with a deep-rooted sense of melancholy, and the presence of the sceptical colonial, Wrather. Old Fisk might be the archetypal cantankerous old man (with an imperiously disdainful delivery courtesy of Peter O'Toole) who takes delight in tripping small children but there are hints of slight cracks in that rock-hard facade. His disparaging remarks about souls and whether they transmigrate clearly have a subtext relating to his own losses. This is a man who has apparently never mourned his son, killed in the Boer War, and his wife, who died of grief after the former's death, and who invariably refers to his surviving son Young Fisk, thus keeping him at both an emotional and a physical (Thursday visits only) distance. In fact Old Fisk seems to regret the disappearance of a childhood pooch, Wag, more than any human loss. A contrast is provided by his housekeeper who occasionally talks to the chair in which her late husband sat as a way of coping with his absence. Yes, it is all very contrived, and suspension of disbelief is absolutely vital - guess which dog has been reincarnated as the dean - but it's also surprisingly moving with the underlying themes of loss, grief and mourning. It's also frequently hilarious, and there's a lovely suggestion that the wide-boy colonial might himself be the reincarnation of the adventurous mongrel with whom Wag met his fate.