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A simple synopsis of this unorthodox film fails to do justice to a Louis Malle original. Characters meet on 42nd Street and enter a disused theatre either to participate in or to watch a rehearsal of Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya". Outside the theatrical action of the rehearsal there is the barest attempt to delineate characters or their relationship to each other. The action is on stage - except that the stage in the disused theatre is unsafe. So the putative stage version is rehearsed offstage, another step of Malle's "de-theatrising" the famous play. Mingling the unfamiliar Russian farm with the familiarity of New York life - even down to car horns heard outside the theatre - the talented cast and their creative director give us as undressed-up a version of "Uncle Vanya" as could be imagined. At the end of the rehearsal the viewer has seen "Uncle Vanya" performed in a casual manner, and in just as casual a manner the film comes to an end. Was this a pointless exercise or was it yet another version of "Uncle Vanya"? Or was it a statement about the essential unreality of theatre contrasted with the ruthless truth of the camera? The beauty of this film is that none of these questions is easily answered.Read full review
The players are so real in theire performance.I love Wallace Shawn! If you like him you should see My Dinner With Andre. FANTASTIC!
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I've seen this film at least ten times. The actors slip seamlessly from being themselves arriving for rehearsal into fully embodiments of their parts, in an almost invisible transition that fascinates me every time I watch. The cast is phenomenal. I've learned so much about Chekhov and "Uncle Vanya" from this version of the play, and it has informed my thinking about Wallace Shawn's own plays as well ("The Designated Mourner," for example). Also, it's a marvelous companion to "My Dinner with Andre"--another of my all-time favorite films.
This film was brilliantly directed by Louis Malle, with an excellent cast, including William Shawn, Julianne Moore, Brooke Smith, and George Gaynes. The movie focuses on a group of actors, gathered in a dilapidated theater, to rehearse Chekhov's play, Uncle Vanya. Outstanding performances by the cast immerse the viewer so intensely in the play and characters, that one does not distinguish that this is a rehearsal. The finely etched relationships in this absorbing story create a memorable, quality film!
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