South Pacific (2001 film)  Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific is a 2001 television film based on the musical "South Pacific" (1949). An ABC production, it was directed by Richard Pearce and stars Glenn Close, Harry Connick Jr. and Rade Šerbedžija (billed in U.S. as Rade Sherbedgia). It was also released on DVD. "South Pacific" was filmed primarily in Australia, with some scenes shot in Moorea, an island close to Tahiti. Sixteen songs from the musical are featured in the movie, which omitted the well-known song "Happy Talk" and cut the even more popular song "Bali Hai" in half. Several new scenes, such as Nellie and Emile's very first meeting at the officer's club, were added, and a new character was created to serve as Nellie's best friend and confidante. The sex scenes between Liat and Lt. Cable were also dealt with more frankly in the film than in the 1949 musical. The film and Close were praised by the critic for "The New York Times", who wrote, "Ms. Close, lean and more mature, hints that a touch of desperation lies in Nellie's cockeyed optimism. 'I'm stuck like a dope with a thing like hope' means one thing when you are in your 20's, something else when you are not." He also noted that the movie "is beautifully produced, better than the stagy 1958 film. ... The other cast members, including Ms. Close, also sing well." The "New York Post" reviewer wrote that "Notions of racism toward the islanders were glossed over in the 1958 movie, but in tonight's remake, the racial themes are brought to the surface, to the production's advantage ... there's a heightened sense of drama and tension in the remake because the war is closer at hand ... the rewards are great." The "Washington Post" reviewer noted: The film was criticized by some, for example theatre critic and historian John Kenrick because the order of the songs was changed, and because Rade Sherbedgia, unlike previous Emiles, did not have an operatic singing voice. "Playbill" reported that "Internet chat room visitors have grumbled that Close is too old for the role of Nellie Forbush, who, in the song, 'A Cock-Eyed Optimist', is described as 'immature and incurably green'", but also that "[co-producer] Cohen said the 'May–December' romance plot point ... has less resonance with audiences today and it was cut.