Full disclosure, I am a Harold Pinter fan. But does he connect with the new generations? I am not thinking of No man's land, which is almost a Beckett play, I am thinking of Betrayal and The Homecoming. What do they mean for the metoo generation?
Released in 1992 according to it's IMDB page, it still exists somewhere in this world evidenced by it's 14 reviews on IMDB. I looked around online though, and could not find any copies of it for sale or videos of it on any streaming and uploading platforms. Perhaps contacting BBC or the production company would be the next step? This TV Movie is a bit special because Pinter added characters to the movie in order to extend the running time. The play exemplifies Theater of the Absurd and generally just has some very odd, comedic, and sort of terrifying moments, so it would be amazing if the internet could gain access to it and spread Pinter's unique style.
Sexy Beast is a great movie. Watched it again last night for the first time in years and noticed how similar it is to a play that came out a year earlier.
Celebration is Harold Pinter's late masterpiece. It has a lot in common with Sexy Beast. Aside from the dialogue, it shares gangsters trying to relax, the comedy of menace, the wives, references to office work, the whimsical rhythm of tension and release. It may or may not have been a direct influence, perhaps it's one of those co-incidences, like Blade and the Matrix.
Here's a great version of Celebration done by Channel Four. It has Colin Firth, nailing it, along with Michael Gambon and some other British stage actors.
Ben Kingsley's style of delivery comes from the Beckett / Pinter tradition of absurdism. After the war, in Europe, there was exhaustion with ideology and propaganda, language filled with grand promises, and a style emerged that was full of characters like Don Logan - in existential pain, very articulate, rattling off dialogue in these extraordinary rhythms. Trying to drill holes in language, to see what, if anything, lay behind it.
That famous monologue in Jaws - Robert Shaw talking about the Indianapolis - also owes a lot to this tradition. Shaw was in Pinter's Caretaker in the 60's, delivering this incredible monologue, here.
The absurdist tendency in dialogue I think has fallen away - we are back to a place of morality and ideology - a belief that the characters should say what they mean, be good or bad people, to make sure the audience are given the right message. Comedies like The Thick of It are kind of absurdist, but I think the theme is a bit easy to identify, there is meaning being communicated in a fairly linear way, it is obviously about something.
I was late to the party, but watched The Night Manager the other day, and was really refreshed by the character of Corky. He has some of these qualities - threatening, very witty, like a mask, language torn free of ideology and morality. Here's the scene where he questions Tom Hiddleston.
Fun fact: the original stage production of Celebration in 1999 had Danny Dyer in one of his first ever roles; he was a protege of Harold Pinter.
Anyone reccomend any plays, character's or reading that could help with this idea? Thank you
This is seriously one of the best things I've read about dialogue... I'm looking forward to trying to infuse this into my writing process.
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/121220/9/09_chapter%205.pdf
I've been having issues with how to work on subtext and the whole idea of naturalistic dialogue. If anyone can provide interesting resources, useful advice or whatever, I'll be more than grateful.
Hey Reddit - this is Jason Pinter and I'm the author of seven novels for adults and two for not-yet adults, including the just-released HIDE AWAY, the first book in the Rachel Marin thriller series. Iβm also the publisher of independent press Polis Books, a book lover, dad, coffee-drinker, and, oh yeah, I once had a character named after me in a comic book who was brutally killed by The Punisher. Find me on Twitter or Instagram. And check out HIDE AWAY!
Proof: https://i.redd.it/x5uxsgf5rck41.jpg
I know the place.
It is true.
Everything we do
Corrects the space
Between death and me
And you.
Hi. This isn't a musical, but still would anyone have a recording of Betrayal? It was a dream to see that amazing script staged but can't seem to find any videos :(
It Is Here
(for A)
What sound was that?
.
I turn away, into the shaking room.
.
What was that sound that came on in the dark?
What is this maze of life it leaves us in?
What is this stance we take,
To turn away, and then turn back?
What did we hear?
.
It was the breath we took when we first met.
.
Listen.
It is here.
Don't look.
The world's about to break.
Don't look.
The world's about to chuck out all its light
and stuff us in the chokepit of its dark,
That black and fat suffocated place
Where we will kill or die or dance or weep
Or scream of whine or squeak like mice
To renegotiate our starting price.I need a copy of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party for tomorrow (Friday 13th).
I know Waterstones sell them at Β£9.99 but I can't get there before they close this evening (20:00).
If anyone is going from Cambs to Histon/Cottenham/Impington that general area I could possibly get to you and buy it off you.
Please let me know!
