A matinee, a Pinter Play. A child's drum and a birthday party. It's simply an acting exercise, probably not for everybody, but if you are familiar with metaphorucal theatrical drama, a bit more interesting than if you are not. There are more questions than answers in the film version of this play that director William friedkin later of "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist") pursued as a passion project, and when you do that with an abstract play like this, you can only hope for the best. I'll give credit to his Direction. It does seem to work, as do the performances. But for the play being on the transition to film, I don't even think that I don't think I'd be able to get the point of the play.
It's Stanley's birthday. The gruff performance of veteran actor Robert Shaw starts off with him dealing with the nosy but lovable boardinghouse landlady Dandy Nichols, then being visited by two strangers (Patrick Magee and Sydney Tafler) who badger him with seemingly pointless questions to the point where he explodes. There's also a young, married pretty neighbor (Helen Fraser) who collects like a hen when she gets drunk and starts giggling, before making out with one of the visitors.
Individual parts of the conversations are interesting, but even the most diligent of concentration will make the whole thing a bizarre party. Nichols in party dress into Yara seems to be emulating the queen, or maybe Florence Foster Jenkins, and slightly resembles Jean Stapleton. Party games ensue, and more confusion takes hold. It's a difficult film to rank and review, because unless you get the apparent metaphors, all can be lost. I've never seen this on stage before but I have read the script, and seeing it on film still didn't answer the questions I had before. I guess we can thank Friedkin for at least attempting to give this a motion picture treatment, because otherwise, we might not have a record of it. For that I'm grateful. For whatever the film is supposed to mean and the fact that I didn't get it, I am not.
It's Stanley's birthday. The gruff performance of veteran actor Robert Shaw starts off with him dealing with the nosy but lovable boardinghouse landlady Dandy Nichols, then being visited by two strangers (Patrick Magee and Sydney Tafler) who badger him with seemingly pointless questions to the point where he explodes. There's also a young, married pretty neighbor (Helen Fraser) who collects like a hen when she gets drunk and starts giggling, before making out with one of the visitors.
Individual parts of the conversations are interesting, but even the most diligent of concentration will make the whole thing a bizarre party. Nichols in party dress into Yara seems to be emulating the queen, or maybe Florence Foster Jenkins, and slightly resembles Jean Stapleton. Party games ensue, and more confusion takes hold. It's a difficult film to rank and review, because unless you get the apparent metaphors, all can be lost. I've never seen this on stage before but I have read the script, and seeing it on film still didn't answer the questions I had before. I guess we can thank Friedkin for at least attempting to give this a motion picture treatment, because otherwise, we might not have a record of it. For that I'm grateful. For whatever the film is supposed to mean and the fact that I didn't get it, I am not.