Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39812 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-05
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Synopsis
Possibly the best of the universally excellent films produced by the American Film Theatre, producer Ely Landau's programme that allowed moviegoers to subscribe to film versions of classic plays, Peter Hall's THE HOMECOMING is a magnificent adaptation of Harold Pinter's play. In it, a successful philosophy professor named Teddy (Jayston) braces himself to return to his North London home for the first time in nine years to introduce his wife Ruth (Merchant) to his family. Unfortunately, this family consists of an assortment of abusives and miscreants (played by Cyril Cusack, Paul Rogers and Ian Holm) that make the atmosphere very uncomfortable for Teddy and turns his wife into the catalyst for a multitude of conflicts and revelations.

Customer Reviews

Sinister, just plain creepy, but beautiful too
Well, I studied this play at high school and was pretty shocked you can imagine! I bought this DVD, because I was studying the play again for my uni finals, and, in short, it is the perfect companion for the script, a play which is typical of the Pinteresque style of absurd theatre.

A young philosophy professor returns home to London from America to visit his estranged working-class family with his new wife. His family is revealed to have a less than savoury history and lifestyle. The remainder of the play charts the domestic disputes within the family, explicit and implicit, and the power struggles between his father, Max, and his brother, Lenny. What it all amounts to is a brutal and unreserved portrayal of the darker side of consciousness, which questions the very foundations of morality.

The unreality of the play lends itself to many artisitic possibilities. For example, the action can symbolise unconscious processes more explicitly, in this case, sexual perversion and violence, without the use of what would be considered unrealistic language in a realistic play. The famous Pinteresque loaded silence represents this aspect well, as well as the undertones that can be infused by good actors into seemingly innocuous words. The same goes for the random acts of violence and sexual activity which punctuate the dialogue.

Furthermore, the constant shifts between conscious and unconscious actions, the masking and unmasking of the characters, makes for a real challenge for the actors. Thankfully, in this production, the calibre of the acting is unbelievably high. If you want to know why Ian Holm was in everything after this film, watch his performance as Lenny. Pinter's ex-wife, Vivien Merchant, plays the lead and is also superb.

If you want to watch the definitive production of The Homecoming, this is what you are seeking. On a side note, I believe (though may be mistaken) that Pinter himself took a role in the production.