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| Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:29 pm EDT 03/30/18 | |
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| Not a new topic here, but I do so admire Schipisi’s take on truly challenging material. Its hard to discern that its origins are theatrical, even though about 80% of the play is intact. It’s both epic and intimate. I saw the original B’way productions and the Public’s revival last fall. The film is the telling that sticks. It’s also Easter appropriate. The crisis takes place Easter weekend. |
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| re: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play | |
| Posted by: Chuck 12:05 am EDT 03/31/18 | |
| In reply to: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play - Delvino 09:29 pm EDT 03/30/18 | |
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| Gratifying to hear, having been involved in the film adaptation. Tracey Ullman was my idea... | |
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| Ullman's Alice. | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 09:02 am EDT 03/31/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:01 am EDT 03/31/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play - Chuck 12:05 am EDT 03/31/18 | |
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| It's her best film work, and she is mesmerizing as a period-specific bohemian. In only a few short scenes, including the haunting section in the Mideast when she sees the vacant somnambulist Streep has become on tranquilizing medication, Ullman effortlessly captures the particulars of this type of woman, without a whiff of sentimentality or "commentary." Alice might be easy to caricature; Hare uses shorthand to track her arc through post-war history. Ullman makes her real and recognizable. Sidebar: Many boomers have this bizarre idea that counterculture belongs to the 60s. What Ullman's Alice teaches us: how personally revolutionary women and men have always been in both shadow and spotlight. It's a wonderful characterization, and the light in Ullman's eyes suggests a special type of witness to history. As she coasts along, she watches Susan's downward trajectory with a very real and unemotional distance. It's that remove that makes her so fascinating, maybe. | |
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| re: Ullman's Alice. | |
| Posted by: pierce 04:20 am EDT 04/01/18 | |
| In reply to: Ullman's Alice. - Delvino 09:01 am EDT 03/31/18 | |
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| 40 years after the making of Singin' in the Rain, Stanley Donen (the film's co-director) recalled how Debbie Reynolds was cast in the role of Kathy Selden. He talked about seeing her in the routine MGM musical Two Weeks In Love and being struck by Reynolds, and in particular her duet with Carlton Carpenter called "Abba Dabba Honeymoon." Donen was knocked out by the immediate impact she had on filmgoers and her lively screen presence; as he put it, "You just ADORED her." I think the same thing can be said about Tracey Ullman in Plenty; her onscreen presence is irresistible, and she doesn't make a false move as Alice. It's a performance that brought her a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Although Out of Africa was the Meryl Streep movie of 1985 the Oscars loved, Plenty is actually the more interesting film. I've never seen a stage production and therefore can't make any comparisons, but as a motion picture it's an unusually strong portrait of intoxicating wartime idealism followed by the bitter hangover of peacetime irrelevance and impotence. Although Susan wasn't a strict representation of Great Britain per se, she certainly symbolized elements of the nation and the frustrations it felt in a post WWII world. The cast is uniformly strong (John Gielgud also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor), and I can only echo co-star Sting's comments about the film: "It's a classy piece of work." |
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| re: Ullman's Alice. | |
| Posted by: bobby2 02:31 am EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Ullman's Alice. - pierce 04:20 am EDT 04/01/18 | |
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| Great post! Yes Ullman is so interesting even in her first scene when she is seen walking to work late. and the seen at the end where Streep says there will be days and days and days like this..........just beautifully shot and acted. |
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| re: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play | |
| Posted by: bobby2 10:57 pm EDT 03/30/18 | |
| In reply to: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play - Delvino 09:29 pm EDT 03/30/18 | |
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| When I first saw this movie I didn't really understand it. (I was a teen.) Then I watched it again a few years ago and wow. So powerful. You really liked the film better than the play? How about the performances? Was Meryl best? Even over Nelligan? That is referred to as such a legendary performance. |
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| re: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:55 am EDT 03/31/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play - bobby2 10:57 pm EDT 03/30/18 | |
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| It's unfair of me to compare Nelligan and Streep on this issue. I saw Nelligan once, on a snowy March day back in the day. I own the film, and have seen it multiple times. I mean to suggest that a filmed version becomes definitive by default: it's the version we can revisit. I did find the Rachel Weisz Public production lacking, and curiously uninvolving, though I much preferred Cory Stoll to all other Brocks; his performance was quite wonderful. | |
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| re: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play | |
| Posted by: bobby2 09:28 pm EDT 03/31/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching “Plenty” again tonight; still a satisfying adaptation of a gnarly play - Delvino 08:55 am EDT 03/31/18 | |
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| I'd still love to hear whatever you remember about Nelligan. | |
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