Reviewed by Hattie Crisell
Stars Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Kate Reid, Stephen Lang,
Charles Durning, Louis Zorich, David S Chandler, Jon Polito | Written by Arthur Miller
UK certification PG | UK RRP £17.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 130 minutes | Directed by Volker Schlöndorff
This 1985 version of Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play showcases excellent performances from all its cast – but it would be worth seeing for John Malkovich alone, at his breathtaking best.
Dustin Hoffman plays Willy Loman, an aging travelling salesman who has failed to find success, and is now falling into a suicidal depression. Willy has spent his life convinced that he and his sons, Biff (Malkovich) and Happy (Lang) were heading for greatness. Faced with the reality that none of them has amounted to much, he finds his dreams crumbling around him to reveal nothing but failure. Kate Reid is wonderful as Willy’s devoted wife, and I had forgotten how stunning Malkovich can be: I was moved to tears by Biff’s transformation from a bitter, unemployed 34 year old to a heartbroken son.
Many of the cast were reprising their roles from an acclaimed Broadway production the previous year. This feels very much like a filmed play (rather than a film adapted from a play), with artificial, painted sets and stagey dialogue that modern audiences may find distracting – but the script is so clever, and the themes so recognisable, that I didn’t have any trouble engaging with it. It’s an American classic played by an exceptional cast: a drama about disillusionment and the realisation that we aren’t all ‘special’ or destined to achieve remarkable things. It’s a sad subject, but one that audiences can relate to now, in this world of desperate reality TV stars, as much as ever.
EXTRAS *** The DVD offers one extra: Private Conversations, Christian Blackwood’s documentary about the making of the film. It gives an insightful look at the thinking behind the production, including Volker Schlöndorff’s explanation for the unrealistic sets: “This being a play, reality should be created through the words. Everything should be fake except the emotions: they should be true.” Luckily, they are.