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Thanks. Is the dialogue characterized in any way by the familiar rhythms of Mamet (and since when could he translate from Russian to English?), or should this be considered purely the work of Chekov via Gregory?

No, I'd say the familiar streamlined staccato style of Mamet is not to be found here. The film is not as formal as a classical Chekov adaptation. It feels like on Mamet's end the contribution was giving it that modern naturalistic feel while still staying true to the source material.

I don't think playwrights or screenwriters need to know the original language in order to adapt a play. Especially one that's so well known the world over.

The dialog in Vanya on 42nd did not strike me as much different from other translations of Chekhov I've watched. I don't know Mamet, so I don't know if it has the Mamet stamp.

"Vanya on 42nd" is a rehersal of Uncle Vanya, with a little time spent with the actors before and after and at intermission. The Chekhov itself hasn't been mucked about, as far as I remember.

[cross-posted w/ Numero Trois]

This one has some terrible, almost comically bad lines.

Vanya to Yelena: "You're too lazy to live, with your [pause] torpor."

It probably sounds better in Russian.

I spoke too soon. For their next project Shawn & Gregory are tackling Ibsen. And Shawn himself did the translating:

NY Times wrote:Obtaining a copy of the original “Master Builder” text from the Norwegian consulate, Mr. Shawn photocopied it in a larger size and had Sandra Saari, an Ibsen scholar, write the meanings of various unfamiliar words in the margins.

He then translated the play himself, making cuts and changes of emphasis and interpretation, resulting in a drama composed “the way I would have written it if I’d been him,” Mr. Shawn said.

NY Times wrote:Obtaining a copy of the original "Master Builder" text from the Norwegian consulate, Mr. Shawn photocopied it in a larger size and had Sandra Saari, an Ibsen scholar, write the meanings of various unfamiliar words in the margins.

He then translated the play himself, making cuts and changes of emphasis and interpretation, resulting in a drama composed "the way I would have written it if I’d been him," Mr. Shawn said.

My initial consternation at Wallace Shawn's happy-go-lucky approach to translation has been considerably tempered by having just watched an interminable 138 minute BBC production of The Master Builder. I'll be interested to see how Shawn & Gregory fare with this play.

Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner (trailer)

More on the upcoming Master Builder adaptation.

My Dinner with Andre brought my attention to the collection. When I first wanted to see it it was oop.

I love it's epic simplicity and originality. One of a kind (are there others like it? Please let me know if there are). When I watch and listen to it it feels like I'm there in the moment receiving Andres experiential knowledge... My purpose for searching out this film came from my Gurdjieffian friends being ecstatic about its chemistry and alchemical transmission as a means within the contemporary oral tradition...

I saw Vanya on 42nd Street recently and it was ok but didn't move me much. However I will watch it again with an open eye watchful to the creative process.

I'd rank the Malle's I've seen: 1) MDWA 2)Zazie dans le metro 3) VO42ndS 4) Black Moon

My advice: get the Murmur of the Heart/Lacombe Lucien/Au Revoir les Enfants set immediately. I suspect these would easily be your new first, second, and third.

Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee And Cigarettes" is also a good choice.

RossyG wrote:My advice: get the Murmur of the Heart/Lacombe Lucien/Au Revoir les Enfants set immediately. I suspect these would easily be your new first, second, and third.

I actually find those to be his weakest work. No ambition with annoying leads.

In terms of recommendations, Le feu follet is the only Malle I really love (in fact, it's hard to believe it's made by that relentlessly middling director!), and Ascenseur pour l'echaffaud comes second on the strength of one of the greatest film scores of all time and Jeanne Moreau aimlessly wandering.

Absolutely (didn't even occur to me recommending Le feu follet, is there any debate this is his greatest achievement..?) Quite a few Malle films I enjoy, but the only one I really love.

Corey wrote:I'd rank the Malle's I've seen: 1) MDWA 2)Zazie dans le metro 3) VO42ndS

Funnily enough that'd be my Top Three and I've sat through way more Malles than you! He's a workman director, capable of great things when the material merits it and, more frequently, in the opposite direction when it doesn't.

The French Arthur Hiller!

Moe Dickstein wrote:The French Arthur Hiller!

Only with a few watchable films.

At the least you have to give me Silver Streak

And I demand See No Evil, Hear No Evil.

What, no love for Milou en mai?

Based on what I've seen, I've come to think of Malle as one of the worst critical casualties of the whole auteurist/nouvelle vague sham, along with Pierre Granier-Deferre, maybe Sautet, and more recently Patrice Leconte - all "workman directors" privileging material over personal style in their films, but what films they are! Personally I'll take Milou or Une étrange affaire or Max or Monsieur Hire over most of Godard's or Truffaut's entire output any day. I think with Malle you have to appreciate the way he works from the material, carefully adapting style and tone as necessary - not everyone can pull that off with similar flair, and many don't even try. Sometimes he bites off more than he can chew (Black Moon, anyone?), but so far I've found even his failures interesting.

* Does quick check to make sure hasn't made the pun before on the forum *

So you are saying that he is a particularly malleable director?

You can say that again I don't know, it's just that the more films I see, the more my admiration for people like Malle grows - people who can shoot a script. And I find it incomprehensible that for example these guys get repeatedly lumped under the received ideas of "craft not art" or "hackwork" or "commercial".

Of course a major part of that talent is knowing when a script is worth shooting, but I think Malle has a pretty good track record in that respect too (although I have to say I'm not yet familiar with most of the later ones). Funnily enough BTW, those three Malle films that knives above identifies as his weakest were all basically his own screenplays!

Which is probably why he was primarily a director. Stuff where he's moving through others like the Shawn/Gregory films or Zazie dans le Metro is where he is at his fiction best (I do think his doc work is pretty good if not best of all time).

Definitely. Or indeed Le Feu follet, which is also one example of how a good original story can spawn several adaptations (cf. Oslo 31 August - where Trier beats Malle in his own game of jumping between styles by sticking them all in the same film!)

According to Deadline; Criterion will be releasing Jonathan Demme's A Master Builder on dvd/blu in the next few months.

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