Death of a Salesman

 

Death of a Salesman 1985

• Director: Volker Schlöndorff
• Seen by this director: The Handmaid’s Tale, The Tin Drum
• Based on the play by Arthur Miller
• Cast: Dustin Hoffman, John Malkovich, Kate Reid, Stephen Lang
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Dustin Hoffman – Many
• John Malkovich - Many
• Kate Reid – Atlantic City
• Why? Good play
• Seen: 18 March 2024 

       Lee J Cobb’s version from the 60s has etched itself into my memory of this powerful play. Dustin Hoffman has a lot to live up to.

       Willy (Hoffman), a travelling salesman, is exhausted with his work, his family, his life. He’s angry and bitter and suffers from encroaching dementia. His wife Linda (Reid) is loving, long-suffering, worried and cowed by Willy’s verbal abuse. They have two grown sons. It is not a happy family.

       There’s a lot of shouting and talking. It’s a bit irritating, to be honest, and there are too many slow empty scenes. It does get dramatic as the dysfunctional family confronts its demons and realises that the American dream is dissolving into ashes of failure.

       But. Too much shouting. Not Hoffman’s best.

2 ½ * of 5