Behind the Candelabra

It’s taken far too long to reach our screens -12 months in fact- but HBO telemovie Behind the Candelabra is exquisite television.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the Liberace bio was given a cinema release in Australia which set it on the slow-track train to our screens.

Along the way it picked up swag of Emmy and Golden Globe Awards including Outstanding Miniseries or Telemovie at both, and acting awards for Michael Douglas as the famed pianist. It has to be said, that’s really splitting hairs over the performance by Matt Damon, who was also nominated for his role as Liberace’s lover, Scott Thorson. Here, both are a knockout.

The script is based on Thorson’s book Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace and told from his perspective as the good-looking young animal-carer who met Liberace backstage in the mid 1970s. Thorson has been raised by foster parents and, despite their care for him, we learn that he has a deep-seated need to belong.

Into the world of Liberace he steps, with its chandeliers, furs, ivory and opulence. The virtuoso showman is besotted by the dashing young man and hires him as his companion. But another staff member warns: there have been young men before him and he too will be tossed aside by ‘Lee’ when he gets bored.

A torrid, blurred romance ensues between the younger and older, employer and employee, with ivory-tinkled montages punctuating the drama with insipid melodies. At every turn roccoco sets, jewel-encrusted costumes, and a veneer of showbiz perfection, mask a shallow world full of lies, sex, and low self-esteem.

As Lee asks Scott to undergo plastic surgery -to resemble a younger version of himself- he offers to adopt him as his own son.

“I want to be everything to you, Scott. I want to be father, brother, lover, best friend,” he says.

Rob Lowe as plastic surgeon Dr. Jack Startz is almost unrecognisable, with a shiny, squeezed face landing somewhere between a prune and Michael Jackson gone wrong.

Indeed, the supporting cast is outstanding: Dan Ackroyd plays manager Seymour Heller protecting his property at all costs, Debbie Reynolds plays mother Frances Liberace and Scott Bakula is the gay pal Bob Black, so pivotal in the two men meeting.

As the story progresses, age, temperament, jealousy, infidelity and addiction will see their lavish lifestyle derail. It is here that Matt Damon’s performance comes to the fore.

Michael Douglas is mesmerizing as Liberace. He has the tone and camp mannerisms down pat. Hollywood magic makes his piano playing (via a double) impeccable. If Superman made you believe a man could fly, Behind the Candelabra will make you believe a man can play piano.

Matt Damon’s journey traverses far more depth than Douglas’, progressing from star-struck young Adonis, to a suffocating clone losing his sense of self, and finally to embittered, jilted lover.

Together, Douglas and Damon are captivating, as two heterosexual actors completely committed to telling a gay romance, albeit largely from one perspective (Thorson’s personal life has since gone on to attract to his own share of headlines).

Special mention must go to the Production Design and, in particular, the Make Up department which has achieved exceptional results. Marvin Hamlisch was also Executive Music Producer, fittingly his final screen production credit.

Behind the Candelabra is like a time-capsule of American showbiz in all its shallow glory.

“Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” In this HBO production, we get both.

Behind the Candelabra airs 8:30pm Sunday on Foxtel Masterpiece.