THE HOMECOMING -- Peter Hall, dir

©1973
studio: Kino Video
production company: The American Film Theatre
dir: Peter Hall
cast: Cyril Cusack, Ian Holm, Michael Jayston, Vivien merchant, Terence Rigby, Paul Rogers, Jonathan Sachar
writer: Harold Pinter
based on the stage play

An American college professor returns to his London home, inhabited by his father, uncle, and two brothers. He brings his wife of nine years along to meet his family for the first time. Suppressed violence and anger and betrayal permeate the sparse home, with the wife the focus and the instrument of it all.

This is, perhaps, not the kind of movie in which you would want to spend a carefree afternoon, but it is a wonderfully faithful adaptation of the tremendous Harold Pinter play.

The video cover, as pictured here, gives it an almost comical look, but any comedy here is extremely dark. In typical Pinter fashion, the words don't always mean what they may seem to mean on the surface, but one must pay special attention to attitude and intention.

The acting is incredibly solid, Hall's direction is crisp, and Pinter's script deserves the study it gets. The film look is incredibly dated (you could almost guess the year is 1973 just by the look of the lighting and filmography), but for me anyway, that only adds to the charm of this old flick.

Not everyone's kind of movie, but it makes my recommendation list.