Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageDeath of a Salesman (1985)
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The setting is awful: sludgy indoors and sunsets on painted backdrops in the yard. That apart, all that's wrong with this version of the 1984 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's play is the salesman himself. Dustin Hoffman's Willy Loman is a hard-working actor playing old; it's a technical performance, starting at such a pitch of sound and fury that it has nowhere to go when the humiliations really clock in. Loman is a complex character, pompous, self-deluding, bullying, laughable, pitiable, and ultimately tragic - this last never tapped by the actor. It isn't until the salesman's wife (Reid) lays into her sons (Malkovich and Lang) that you feel the dynamic of this family, the power of the play, and what acting can do to the emotions. This trio is terrific, trapped in the hell of the unattainable American Dream, and tearing into each other. Hoffman hadn't been on the stage for 17 years, and it shows.Author: BC
User reviews of this film
-
- annie said...
- Posted on Dec 19 2008 01:27 this was da worst film of ma lyfe...nvr seen a more horrible play
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Producer: Robert F Colesberry
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang, Charles Durning, Louis Zorich full cast
Duration: 136 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
What do you think?
Post your review now