tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post8576808842213667123..comments2023-08-20T06:16:15.362-05:00Comments on Getafilm: Stage to Screen to StageDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-43563834172226790452008-11-07T10:46:00.000-06:002008-11-07T10:46:00.000-06:00I wonder how well Pacino could perfect a Southern ...I wonder how well Pacino could perfect a Southern drawl? That must be one of the only things he's never done.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-24955839383984903872008-11-06T21:31:00.000-06:002008-11-06T21:31:00.000-06:00Unfortunately, Daniel, Pacino wouldn't even know h...Unfortunately, Daniel, Pacino wouldn't even know how to SPELL Tuscaloosa much less how to get here ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-9421831627387934012008-11-06T15:44:00.000-06:002008-11-06T15:44:00.000-06:00He was insane in Zodiac. I should see that movie a...He was insane in Zodiac. I should see that movie again.<BR/><BR/>Oh man, <I>Pacino</I>. That...would be tremendous...if it were true? Sadly, at this point in his career that would hardly be a project beneath him.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-21445183100412695222008-11-04T12:02:00.000-06:002008-11-04T12:02:00.000-06:00Great explanation, Marilyn, thanks. I guess I've u...Great explanation, Marilyn, thanks. I guess I've understood all of that before but just haven't heart it so concisely described.<BR/><BR/>Wow, Sam, that's another fantastic anecdote. I know you are truly a connoisseur of the performing arts and that you've seen all number of great shows in NYC. I never really considered discussing theater here mostly because I don't take the opportunity to see many (even though Minneapolis has the highest number of theater seats per capita outside of New York) as you, but Lynch's performance here really intrigued me.<BR/><BR/>I think you and Marilyn have kind of said the same thing about the focus being on the actor creating their own moments. There was something naked, raw about Lynch's performance. <BR/><BR/>There's no music or framing or editing on stage. I saw a one-woman performance of "The Syringa Tree" last winter that took my breath away. One actress, multiple roles, all outstanding. I think I would prefer that over Redgrave's monologue, as you describe it.<BR/><BR/>Seriously, Fletch, I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider FF-UN during the performance.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-37186230643306507212008-11-03T22:02:00.000-06:002008-11-03T22:02:00.000-06:00I'm not a fan of the stage ordinarily, but I am in...I'm not a fan of the stage ordinarily, but I am indeed a fan of Lynch's. The guy is versatile as hell. I've loved him ever since Fargo. (Can't believe I've never had him as an FF-UN! I need to get on that, stat.)Fletchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17299302086449086987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-7512679384283924382008-11-03T21:03:00.000-06:002008-11-03T21:03:00.000-06:00I am very happy to see you are now adding stage pl...I am very happy to see you are now adding stage plays to your site Dan, and I appreciate the succinct piece on Miller's VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. Like Marilyn, I have also seen Brian Dennehy, and I've recently seen Vanessa Redgrave in her one-woman show, Patrick Stewart as Macbeth, Patti Lupone in GYPSY, Martha Plimpton in CYMBELINE and many others dating back a few decades. I fondly remember Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson in a definitive MAC BETH years back.<BR/> To answer one of your questions, I don't place one medium over the other, meaning I don't prefer film to theatre or vice-versa, but I do find that stage acting is rather in a class by itself--in its intimacy and the fact that it is almost always the central focus. Film is not normally the same, except in character-driven dramas. I understand what Marilyn is saying, but I find that by its very nature the stage is a showcase of an actor's talents.<BR/> I agree it would be interesting fo focus on an actor's movement from stage to screen (and maybe back to stage.)<BR/><BR/>Interestingly enough, Ms. Redgrave, who I loved so much in ATONEMENT, was quite the prima donna in her extended monolgue of her one-person presentation, and the theatre seem to bring it most (undesirable) personal traits.<BR/><BR/>I am a regular theatregoer and I am thrilled that you are branching out here Dan. Excellent review and look forward to more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-81271230372220176262008-11-03T13:36:00.000-06:002008-11-03T13:36:00.000-06:00Not exactly, Daniel. If you've ever had the experi...Not exactly, Daniel. If you've ever had the experience of expressing an emotion while maintaining your cool, you'll understand what I mean. An actor has to be able to create, manipulate, project, an react to emotions in order to create a fully realized character. In order to have this kind of control, the actor must be able to stand a bit aside from the emotion. This will keep the performance from getting away from him or her. When an actor loses control of the emotion, it can create an uncomfortable intrusion on costars and the audience. Overacting is when an actor can't create and control a genuine emotion and overcompensates by faking it, which almost always makes the emotion bigger than it should be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-73048714576140684462008-11-03T13:09:00.000-06:002008-11-03T13:09:00.000-06:00Thanks for sharing that, Marilyn. How interesting ...Thanks for sharing that, Marilyn. How interesting to see Henreid and Montalban on stage. <BR/><BR/>I like that thought about actors having a little more freedom on stage and creating their moments. I don't know Broadway directors to know who would be more of a "hands-off" stage director, but I'm sure that influences the production as well. For what it's worth, Lynch sure seemed natural up there. <BR/><BR/>I guess I didn't consider actors' emotions taking over the theater, but I can think of a couple of times where I've seen "overacting". Is that the same thing?Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3435253058176416288.post-46802875860624568962008-11-03T08:12:00.000-06:002008-11-03T08:12:00.000-06:00I've seen many perfomers on stage and screen. A lo...I've seen many perfomers on stage and screen. A lot of them were just coming up when I saw them work on stage--John Malkovich, Gary Sinise and the rest of the Steppenwolf Ensemble. Others, like Brian Dennehy, Barnard Hughes, and Paul Henreid, came to my attention on stage well into their careers. I've also had the opportunity to see Steppenwolf actors on stage after they made it big and had appeared in many movies. Martha Plympton, a Steppenwolf Ensemble member, came from films and now works almost exclusively in the theatre. John Mahoney has also "retired" to the stage.<BR/><BR/>I find that the actors currently working seem very similar on stage and screen. In the case of a commanding presence like Brian Dennehy, the stage allows him to be as big as he likes without losing control. On the other hand, actors from bygone times, like Paul Henreid, did things on stage I never would have imagined. I saw a reader's theatre production of Shaw's <I>Don Juan In Hell</I> starring Agnes Moorhead, Ricardo Montalban, Edward Mulhare, and Paul Henreid many years ago. One of the actors pulled focus for a speech their were doing so well that I never even noticed that Henreid had lit a cigar. I've never seen its like since, and I would say that these actors are better on stage simply because they don't have a camera, a director, and an editor to create moments for them.<BR/><BR/>All that said, it's very hard to compare movies and theatre. In the theatre, the audience participates in the creation of the performance. As your example showed, when one audience member created a disturbance, his "coplayer" had to stop and tell him to shut up. The energy or lack thereof in the audience can completely change things. Likewise, I've seen plays in small spaces in which the actors were not in control of their instrument; I felt physically beat-up by one such play about domestic violence, not because of the subject matter, but because the actors' emotions were at loose throughout the theatre. This is not good stage acting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com