Beckett on Film DVD Set

Starring:Barry McGovern, Johnny Murphy, Alan Stanford, Stephen Brennan, Sam McGovern, Julianne Moore, Milo O'Shea, David Kelly, Jeremy Irons, John Hurt, Sean McGinley, Gary Lewis (III), Sean Foley (VI), Rosaleen Linehan, Richard Johnson, Harold Pinter, Rebecca Pidgeon, John Gielgud, Michael Gambon, David Thewlis
Director: Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Neil Jordan, Kieron J. Walsh
Studio: Ambrose Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The hugely ambitious Beckett on Film project gathered together 19 different directors to turn the 19 stage works written by Samuel Beckett into films. The range is vast--from the 45-second Breath to the two hours of his most famous play, Waiting for Godot--but all the works reflect Beckett's penetrating obsessions with memory, regret, and the simple, excruciating experience of being. Not every film succeeds--like all great theater, Beckett's plays demand interaction with a live audience to express their full intent--and though scholars tout Beckett's every word as genius, several works are slight (Catastrophe, Ohio Impromptu, or What Where will leave many viewers unimpressed). But all the plays feature Beckett's uniquely distilled language; the greatest of them--including Waiting for Godot (in which two tramps pass the time while they wait for someone who may never come), Endgame (in which a blind man and his lame servant bicker and joke as the world declines), and Play (in which a love triangle is bitterly recalled by two women and a man in urns)--are astonishing in both their potent humor and piercing grief.

Though Beckett's stature drew in an impressive array of directors (including Anthony Minghella, Patricia Rozema, and Neil Jordan) and actors (including Jeremy Irons, Julianne Moore, Alan Rickman, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Michael Gambon, and John Gielgud), some of the finest work comes from relative unknowns. But the gem of the collection is Krapp's Last Tape, about an old man revisiting his life through recordings he has made throughout his years. It's the perfect marriage of text, actor (the incomparable John Hurt), and director (Atom Egoyan, The Sweet Hereafter); in their hands, the play spins from deeply funny to deeply sad, all with only the slightest dim of the light in Hurt's eyes. --Bret Fetzer
Description
The first ever cinematic screening of all 19 of Samuel Beckett's plays. The acclaimed Beckett on Film project brings together some of the most distinguished directors and actors working today. Directors include Atom Egoyan, Damien Hirst, Neil Jordan, Conor McPherson, Damien O'Donnell, David Mamet, Anthony Minghella, Karel Reisz and Patricia Rozema. The exceptional acting talent involved includes Michael Gambon, the late Sir John Gielgud, John

Hurt, Jeremy Irons, Julianne Moore, Harold Pinter, Alan Rickman and Kristen Scott-Thomas.

Probably the most significant Irish playwright of the 20th century, Beckett has influenced generations of directors and talent in film, television and theatre.

Several of the films from the Beckett on Film Project have been exhibited at international film festivals around the world including New York, Toronto and Venice.

Programs in the series include:

* Waiting for Godot (running time: 2 hours)

* Not I (running time: 14 minutes)

* Rough for Theatre I (running time: 20 minutes)

* Ohio Impromptu (running time: 12 minutes)

* Krapp's Last Tape (running time: 58 minutes)

* What Where (running time: 12 minutes)

* Footfalls (running time: 28 minutes)

* Come and Go (running time: 8 minutes)

* Act Without Words I (running time: 16 minutes)

* Happy Days (running time: 1 hour 19 minutes)

* Catastrophe (running time: 7 minutes)

* Rough for Theatre II (running time: 30 minutes)

* Breath (running time: 45 seconds)

* That Time (running time: 20 minutes)

* Endgame (running time: 1 hour 24 minutes)

* Act Without Words II (running time: 11 minutes)

* A Piece of Monologue (running time: 20 minutes)

* Play (running time: 16 minutes)

* Rockaby (running time: 14 minutes)

* Plus a 52 minute Documentary on the making of the Beckett on Film Project

Amazon.com

The hugely ambitious Beckett on Film project gathered together 19 different directors to turn the 19 stage works written by Samuel Beckett into films. The range is vast--from the 45-second Breath to the two hours of his most famous play, Waiting for Godot--but all the works reflect Beckett's penetrating obsessions with memory, regret, and the simple, excruciating experience of being. Not every film succeeds--like all great theater, Beckett's plays demand interaction with a live audience to express their full intent--and though scholars tout Beckett's every word as genius, several works are slight (Catastrophe, Ohio Impromptu, or What Where will leave many viewers unimpressed). But all the plays feature Beckett's uniquely distilled language; the greatest of them--including Waiting for Godot (in which two tramps pass the time while they wait for someone who may never come), Endgame (in which a blind man and his lame servant bicker and joke as the world declines), and Play (in which a love triangle is bitterly recalled by two women and a man in urns)--are astonishing in both their potent humor and piercing grief.

Description

The first ever cinematic screening of all 19 of Samuel Beckett's plays. The acclaimed Beckett on Film project brings together some of the most distinguished directors and actors working today. Directors include Atom Egoyan, Damien Hirst, Neil Jordan, Conor McPherson, Damien O'Donnell, David Mamet, Anthony Minghella, Karel Reisz and Patricia Rozema. The exceptional acting talent involved includes Michael Gambon, the late Sir John Gielgud, John

Hurt, Jeremy Irons, Julianne Moore, Harold Pinter, Alan Rickman and Kristen Scott-Thomas.

Probably the most significant Irish playwright of the 20th century, Beckett has influenced generations of directors and talent in film, television and theatre.

Several of the films from the Beckett on Film Project have been exhibited at international film festivals around the world including New York, Toronto and Venice.

Programs in the series include:

* Waiting for Godot (running time: 2 hours)

* Not I (running time: 14 minutes)

* Rough for Theatre I (running time: 20 minutes)

* Ohio Impromptu (running time: 12 minutes)

* Krapp's Last Tape (running time: 58 minutes)

* What Where (running time: 12 minutes)

* Footfalls (running time: 28 minutes)

* Come and Go (running time: 8 minutes)

* Act Without Words I (running time: 16 minutes)

* Happy Days (running time: 1 hour 19 minutes)

* Catastrophe (running time: 7 minutes)

* Rough for Theatre II (running time: 30 minutes)

* Breath (running time: 45 seconds)

* That Time (running time: 20 minutes)

* Endgame (running time: 1 hour 24 minutes)

* Act Without Words II (running time: 11 minutes)

* A Piece of Monologue (running time: 20 minutes)

* Play (running time: 16 minutes)

* Rockaby (running time: 14 minutes)

* Plus a 52 minute Documentary on the making of the Beckett on Film Project

The series includes 19 plays & a documentary on 4 DVD's plus a Souvenir Book in an attractive Giftbox set.

Customer Reviews:

A Formidable Achievement.......2006-07-02

The fact that this DVD set exists at all is cause for ecstatic and superlative praise: at last we have nearly all the plays of one of the 20th century's most technically innovative--but also emotionally affecting and eloquent--dramatists, available together in professional productions created with sympathy, respect for the author's intentions, and often inspired insight into these works' theatrical potential.

Because this box set presents the work of 19 different directors, each working with a different play, it is inevitable that this collection would be uneven: the most disappointing performances, in my opinion, are drawn from the most familar works: Endgame, in particular, suffers from an awkward rhythm and rushed delivery which violates both the general sense of the work as well as several of its most memorable and touching sequences.

There are nonetheless many very pleasant surprises among these performances, none more welcome than Julianne Moore's extraordinary rendition of "Not I." John Hurt's version of "Krapp's Last Tape" will similarly, I think, come to be regarded as definitive, as will the idiosyncratic collaboration among David Mamet, Harold Pinter, and the late Sir John Gielguld in "Catastrophe." Most revelatory of all is the rendition of "Rough for Theatre II," which turns what reads in print as an ostensibly inconsequential fragment into a nuanced and perhaps uniquely detailed contribution to the Beckett canon.

Perhaps the greatest mystery in a package promising to be "the comprehensive cinematic interpretation of Beckett's plays" are the omissions here, most surprisingly his several works--"Eh Joe,' "Nacht und Traume," "...but the clouds," among others--for television. One also wonders, given the extraordinarily generous resources at the producers' disposal, if it was only the Beckett estate that prevented a mounting of the author's great deskdrawer drama Eleutheria, or the early fragment "Human Wishes."

The fact that this set is easily available, and that it contains so many highlights, ultimately overrides any disappointments. The price of this collection probably puts it out of reach of all but the most devoted fans of Samuel Beckett--which is also a shame, because many of these performances would refute the unreflective complaints that Beckett's work is boring, emotionally arid, or depressing. Were the set less expensive, it would help win for Beckett a popular audience commensurate with his contribution to contemporary literature and theatre. But for those of us lucky enough to own a copy, there is much to enjoy, contemplate, and re-play for years to come.

What a let-down!.......2006-04-27

I have seen this twice through now & have concluded that the best places to experience Samuel Beckett's quintessential words are on the printed page or on obscure stages (like San Quentin prison).

Most of the productions in this package seek only to bring attention to themselves (the single exception being John Hurt & Atom Egoyan's perfect Krapp's Last Tape) - they are for the most part overdirected & overacted to the hilt.

An Abomination.......2006-04-15

With great anticipation and relish i awaited this accumulation of the works of probably one of the greatest playwrites of the 20th century. Having seen a short promotional film of the project, my eagerness was picqued.But, alas, flash, star-worship and diminished expectations rule once again in this travesty. Having actually not even been able to sit through the Endgame of this set, and having also seen the foolish, punk-flash version of Breath, and the unsympathetic and misunderstood, braindead interpretation of Not I, i am so appalled i nearly whipped this weighty and overly expensive set, frisbee-like,out the window.
It never ceases to amaze how so much star power can do so much damage. Remember the Broadway travesty of Godot a few years ago with Robin Williams?
So, Engame is a beautiful performance. all the Gaelic colloquial nuance of Beckett's language,perfectly understood and delivered in a heightened naturalism that is a joy to behold. The only problem is, one can NOT behold it because of the hack direction. Done in obsessively Television Direction School multi-camera work, anytime a charecter speaks or moves he is held in extreme talking-head close-up. next actor speaks, close up for him, then back to the other actor and so on and so on until the stomach of the viewer churns from this sea-sick demntia of camera close-ups,reaction shots, two shots and flashing long shots. So you don't have a play, or a film, you end up with a Television show of utter convention and utter unwatchability. i suggest people stay away from this possibly well-intentioned but decadent and unwatchable and expensive lump of Beckett Meets Hollywood by way of London.

A great collection for novices and seasoned Beckettians alike.......2006-03-10

The greats of the Irish and English stage and screen come together in this masterfully produced collection.

Conor McPherson's version of "Endgame" nearly justifies the price tag all by its lonesome. The acting is dynamic and finely tuned, and McPherson's lens captures every detail. Other standouts include "Ohio Impromptu" (starring Jeremy Irons in a tour de force double role), "Rough for the Theatre I", and "Rough for the Theatre II" (where Jim Norton and others turn this uneven early work into an emotional time-bomb).

Not every adaptation is up to par. "Not I", starring Julianne Moore, takes the high modernist idea of actor-as-automaton a bit too literally, blurring the language into incoherence and robbing the script of its rich texture. "A Piece of Monologue" also misses the mark in this low-energy adaptation.

All in all, though, I would heartily recommend this collection, especially to academics and serious theater artists. It is clear enough to serve as an representative introduction to Beckett's work, and it is masterful enough to enrich a seasoned Beckettian's understanding of these plays.

A real score for Beckett aficionados.......2005-07-07

Not to gush, but many of the versions in this set far surpass my expectations of film adaptations of theatre. For instance, "Endgame" is brilliantly realized, with finely nuanced acting. Top talent on both sides of the camera, often visually arresting works. Really great stuff for any Beckett or experimental theatre enthusiast. Pricey, but worth it.

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