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The Glass Menagerie (1973)
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie Review
I recently viewed The Glass Menagerie which was filmed in 1973 by Anthony Harvey. The story begins with Sam Waterston, who portrays the moody dreamer Tom Wingfield, walking alone at night down a cold and wet city street. He begins to tell us a recollection of his home life, the life that he left behind. His memory begins with his mother Amanda Winglfield which is played by Katherine Hepburn, and his younger sister Laura Wingfield who is brought to life by actress Joanna Miles. Right away you can tell that Amanda is a demanding woman who wants reality to mimic her dreams, but more often than not they never match up. Laura immediately strikes the audience as someone who just wants to please everyone. Tom however is like his rebellious father who abandoned them for the "wild" world outside 11 years prior. Laura was afflicted with a disease when she was tiny that left her crippled, which also makes her extremely shy. So instead of interacting with the outside world and being as flirtatious as her mother, she hides at home and entertains herself with her collection of glass animals, aka her glass menagerie. Her world is as delicate as her glass; thusly Laura's mental state and personality are displayed through her menagerie. Of course that doesn't do for Amanda, and she at the beginning of the year had signed Laura up for classes at the local college, but Amanda soon finds that Laura stopped going after just 2 days, and hasn't been going the past 6 weeks. She is infuriated that her daughter's future has been tossed aside so she pushes Tom to bring home a "gentleman caller" for Laura to court. He does and to everyone's surprise, but Laura's dismay, the man he brings home is Laura's old high school crush; Jim O'Conner who is briefly played by Michael Moriarty. One thing leads to another and soon Jim & Laura are alone together. He soon finds his way past her cleverly designed walls, and they end up kissing. But he reveals that he is engaged and Laura's world is destroyed along with her brother & her mother's relationship with Tom leaving forever. In the end we find Tom begging Laura to "blow out her candles" and leave his mind, and she finally does.
A Doll's House (1973)
Spoiler Alert
Spoiler Alert!
A Doll's House Review I recently viewed the movie version of A Doll's House which was directed by Patrick Garland. The lead actors are Claire Bloom as Nora Helmer, a devoted housewife whose only wish in life is to please her authoritarian husband Torvald Helmer played by Anthony Hopkins. Torvald has recently become the bank manager, which excites Nora. Then one of Torvald's employees Krogstad played by Denholm Elliot drops by to discuss a rumor about his firing with Torvald. His presence scares Nora, for some reason unbeknownst to the audience, and he leaves once he finds that the rumor is true. After his visit Nora's old school mate Kristine Linde played by Anna Massey and asks if Nora can help her find a job now that her husband is dead and has no way of making money. She knows that Nora can help since Torvald is now the bank manager. Linde takes Krogstad's position at the bank. Dr Rank, played by Ralph Richardson has arrived and he goes to visit Torvald privately. While Dr. Rank is with Torvald, Nora receives a visitor of her own, Krogstad. We then find out that she owes him 4,000 dollars which she had borrowed from Krogstad to save her dying husband. Torvald doesn't know and Nora is too scared of her husband to let him know. Krogstad threatens to tell Torvald should Nora not save his position. She tries and Torvald refuses to keep him on at the bank. Once the days start to pass, and the revealing of this secret debt seems to come faster and faster, Nora becomes desperate to keep her husband from reading the letter that holds the information of this deal. Then the day of their ball Linde goes to her old flame Krogstad and begs him to spare the Helmer household of this travesty. He agrees when Linde says she wants to be with him again, and she can support their family with her new job at the bank. Krogstad arrives too late with the letter that pardons the Helmer's fate. Torvald scolds and bans his wife and then forgives her, but then she realizes she wants nothing to do with him, since she has fallen out of love with him. This movie describes the facades that we all go through just to please society, and not our selves.