“THE DEFINITIVE PINTER”

By Raymond Benson

Cinema Retro has featured articles and reviews of several titles in the “American Film Theatre” series.

To recap: Back in 1973, producer Ely Landau and his wife Edie launched a daring and unprecedented cinema series that played in the U.S. for two “seasons,” with a total of fourteen titles (but only thirteen were shown), all renowned works—classic and modern—originally produced on the stage. It was called the American Film Theatre. (A review of a DVD box set of the entire series appeared on Cinema Retro. Click here to read.)

The concept tried something different. The directive was to take a great stage play, not change a word, and in most cases, use the actual play script as the screenplay. The next step was to hire an accomplished film director to interpret the text for the film medium but stay faithful to the play. Sometimes the director was the same person who helmed the original stage production. A further step was to persuade the original casts from the Broadway or London productions of those plays to star in the film; or, when that wasn’t possible, to cast big-name Hollywood or British actors. Thus, the result was indeed a filmed play—but you as an audience member wouldn’t be watching it from the middle of the orchestra or from the side or from the first balcony; instead you were up close and personal in a realistically-presented world (on studio sets and/or real interior or exterior locations)—just like in “regular” movies. You had the best seat in the house, so to speak, but there’s no proscenium arch. It’s a movie. But it’s a play.

Kino Lorber has slowly been re-releasing the titles from the American Film Theatre in individual packages, upgraded to high definition Blu-ray. The newest—and most anticipated for me personally—is Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming, directed by Peter Hall (who also directed the original London production), and featuring the original London cast, including the likes of Ian Holm, Vivien Merchant, and Paul Rogers.

Pinter is extremely difficult to stage, and even more problematic to film. Very few adaptations of Pinter’s works have made the transition from stage to screen, all with varying degrees of success (Cinema Retro recently reviewed Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray release of William Friedkin’s adaptation of The Birthday Party). When the American Film Theatre released The Homecoming, movie critics and theatre people were in unanimous agreement—this was the best representation of Harold Pinter we had seen (and probably will see, not counting screenplays Pinter wrote that were not adapted from his stage works).

The style, the mood, and the pace are extremely indicative of Pinter’s plays. There is an underlying, subtextual menace in nearly every line of dialogue. Famous for the pauses that are clearly written into his scripts, Pinter always insisted that every word (and pause) was adhered to when his plays were produced. It all amounted to the flow of the language and to that sinister and very black comedy which was the playwright’s hallmark. Yes, his plays can be extremely funny—and The Homecoming is very much so once one becomes accustomed to its heightened delivery.

Director Peter Hall was a regular interpreter of Pinter on stage, and here he beautifully adapts the writer’s Tony Award winning work. Yes, it takes place entirely in a shabby, austere working-class home in Britain, but there was no need to “open it up,” save for a few establishing shots of the street and tenement buildings. The goods are all in the acting and the dialogue.

The story? Well. It’s about an all-male household. The rooster is Max (Paul Rogers), who rules over the place like a dictator. His brother, Sam (Cyril Cusack), essentially serves as the butler, since he has always lived under Max’s shadow. Two grown sons—Lenny (Ian Holm) and Joey (Terence Rigby)—live in the house. Teddy (Michael Jayson), however, went off and got married to Ruth (Vivien Merchant). When Teddy brings Ruth home for a family “visit,” things become… well… tense. As the play/film unfolds, the situation becomes increasingly bizarre and creepy.

Ian Holm steals the picture with his acerbic, cynical take on his family and self. Those readers here who only know Holm from his appearances in The Lord of the Rings films or in Chariots of Fire need to see this performance. It is masterful. Paul Rogers is also spectacular in the showiest role. He’s not someone you want for a father.

Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray is a 1920x1080p restored transfer and looks decidedly better than the previous DVD version. There are optional English SDH subtitles. The main supplement is an interesting, long interview with cinematographer David Watkin (who also shot the AFT’s A Delicate Balance). Repeated from other AFT Blu-ray titles are an interview with Edie Landau, who with her husband Ely produced the films in the series; a short promotional piece featuring Ely that was shown in theaters during the initial run; and several trailers for other AFT titles.

The Homecoming belongs on any list of “greatest black comedies.” For viewers unfamiliar with Pinter’s stage work, this is the definitive adaptation. For my money, it’s also the crown jewel of the American Film Theatre series.

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