The Birthday Party (1968)
Country: GB
Technical: col 126m
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Sidney Tafler, Patrick Magee, Robert Shaw, Dandy Nichols
Synopsis:
A boarder in a seaside town is visited by two strangers, who proceed to browbeat him and impose a birthday celebration at which he is the scapegoat.
Review:
Pinter's typically symbolic play, with its themes of oppression, conformism, and an insubstantial past, is given a committed performance here. Tafler and Magee (Jew and Catholic) impart the appropriate menace and sarcasm, while Shaw's Stanley offers token resistance before succumbing to bestial impulses and relapsing into catatonia. Apparently a political allegory, it makes for uncomfortable viewing, but Friedkin lets it speak with minimum grandstanding on his part.
Country: GB
Technical: col 126m
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Sidney Tafler, Patrick Magee, Robert Shaw, Dandy Nichols
Synopsis:
A boarder in a seaside town is visited by two strangers, who proceed to browbeat him and impose a birthday celebration at which he is the scapegoat.
Review:
Pinter's typically symbolic play, with its themes of oppression, conformism, and an insubstantial past, is given a committed performance here. Tafler and Magee (Jew and Catholic) impart the appropriate menace and sarcasm, while Shaw's Stanley offers token resistance before succumbing to bestial impulses and relapsing into catatonia. Apparently a political allegory, it makes for uncomfortable viewing, but Friedkin lets it speak with minimum grandstanding on his part.
Country: GB
Technical: col 126m
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Sidney Tafler, Patrick Magee, Robert Shaw, Dandy Nichols
Synopsis:
A boarder in a seaside town is visited by two strangers, who proceed to browbeat him and impose a birthday celebration at which he is the scapegoat.
Review:
Pinter's typically symbolic play, with its themes of oppression, conformism, and an insubstantial past, is given a committed performance here. Tafler and Magee (Jew and Catholic) impart the appropriate menace and sarcasm, while Shaw's Stanley offers token resistance before succumbing to bestial impulses and relapsing into catatonia. Apparently a political allegory, it makes for uncomfortable viewing, but Friedkin lets it speak with minimum grandstanding on his part.