On D List of Movie Reviews

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Death of a Salesman (1985)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 12/16

12/16: For Death of a Salesman, I read the play several times over the years but hadn't seen the film until now.

I understand there are many versions; however, I'm going with this. First of all, what a great collection of performances. Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang, Charles Durning, and David Chandler are all outstanding, doing Arthur Miller's characters justice.

It's not often a film stays faithful to the printed source, but the 1985 version of Death of a Salesman does. In fact, it's one of the fewest times you can instruct a struggling reader to read the play first and then watch the film afterwards to have an idea because it's the clearest vision of what Arthur Miller was trying to present. The hardest task is to imagine what's going on due to overlapping voices as the scenes transition from one moment to another which can be confusing at times. So, kudos to Volker Schlöndorff for pulling it off; it's a rare accomplishment.

Perfectly cast, Dustin Hoffman gets Willy Loman right, showing off a lot of naturalism, even with his hands being all over the place which tends to be a sign of overacting. But in this case, it's not, and there's nothing theatrical going on. Notice the incompleteness of several buildings as there's no ceiling in one room and a wall also is missing. It's simply a signal that Death of a Salesman is not a movie but a play.

The reason why I give the film just one point off is that it's not altogether there as a moving tragedy; everybody does enough to make the production work. I've been mostly convinced, so maybe the next time I see it, it'll probably get a '10'.

All in all, Death of a Salesman starts off quickly, settles down to a nice pace, and finishes strong.

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