Sunday, August 14, 2016
The Designated Mourner
- Commentary: This movie is difficult for me to write about. I bought it, unseen, for a few reasons: it was written by Wallace Shawn, who also wrote an all time favorite of mine, My Dinner with Andre. The title and the idea behind it have intrigued me for years. A year or so before I bought this movie I was writing a collection of poetry that I intended to title The Designated Mourner. Anyway, the movie is actually a subterranean take on the title. It's part prophetic, part mournful, part explanatory, part exploratory, all interior. I was very surprised and completely overtaken by it. The more I watch it, the more it edges into one of my all time favorites. It's a difficult movie, though, one I would never push on anyone, or probably even suggest, except under very certain, highly idiosyncratic circumstances.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Mike Nichols Jack Miranda Richardson Judy David de Keyser Howard
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1997
Directed by David Hare.
Labels: drama5, fantasy2, film-art1, haunting1, play-adaptation, political2, prophecy, tragedy1
