Twist Of Fate videogram review

thanks to Kay

Olivia Newton-John, “Twist of Fate” directed by Brian Grant and David Mallet. (1983). Color film. 25 minutes MCA Home Video. Beta Hi-Fi and VHS Dolby stereo videocassettes, $19.95; Stereo CED videodisc $16.98; Stereo CAV Laserdisc, $19.98.

Livvy’s latest is a six-track video mu-sic EP in the stylish tradition of her much acclaimed “Physical” video LP (likewise directed by Brian Grant.) Production values are superb, with an audio track so hot it sizzles (in the Beta version auditioned) and with lavish visual “realizations” so dense with imagery that repeated exposures are a necessity and a delight.

Cast against type, lovely Livvy spends a lot of time at the short end of the romantic stick, getting pushed around like crazy, to make her seem accessible and sympathetic. She’s the loser in a Venice love affair, “Shaking You,” pouting midst the most gorgeous location scenery (and painterly twilight) imaginable.

Olivia suffers a Freudian nightmare “Heart Attack” that pits her good (child) self against her jaded older personality. She’s “Tied Up” in a lip-synch with her band, flirting shamelessly with the camera (and thus the viewer). And our heroine fights off all manner of sado-masochistic urban dangers, stress, fear and lost-in-the-punk-crowd alienation while “Livin’ in Desperate Times.” But boy, does she look good suffering in handcuff earrings and leather and at least a half-dozen different hairdos.

Also packed into this 25-minute pop souffle are two videos pairing Olivia with John Travolta, her romantic co-star from the “Two of a Kind” film. Clips from the pic surface in the music video version of “Twist,” as Livvy surrealistically pleads a case (perhaps for the film’s existence?) in a neon-lit swamp of a court-room. The icing on the cake is a lovely Valentine dance and vocal duet between Olivia and John, staged by Travolta on a powder-pink sound stage.