Rime of Ancient Mariner (1975) Review

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(More customer reviews)Recently, a friend and I were discussing educational and ethical influences when we were growing up in the 1950's versus today.She mentioned Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who, in 1798, wrote The Rime of The Ancient Mariner. Both of us had been required to recite parts of the epic poem in high school and in English Literature courses in college. My friend said, "Its messages even might be called metaphysical within today's context."
We tried reciting it and only remembered bits and pieces. (I have problems remembering Dr. Seuss.)I said I'd get two copies of the poem so each could read it. That was easy enough, but I was extremely surprised to find it had been made into a film. We looked forward to watching the film to see how it had been interpreted. After all, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner isn't exactly light reading. After each had read the poem, we watched the film together.
We considered the film a remarkable achievement, especially considering it was made in the 1970's, before computers, before the so-called "Ken Burns effect," and before special effects too often began compensating for a lack of substance. Particularly noteworthy are the 19th and 20th century illustrations culled from "lesser known artists," such as Willy Pogany, the early Hollywood designer.
The film is narrated by Sir Michael Redgrave, whom had taught the poem when he was a schoolmaster, adding a tone of authority and credibility in remaining true to the poem.
Its mastery is in the layers of subtle messages, conveyed without "instructing," or becoming an oppressive and obvious morality tale. We found it such a refreshing change from today's 'in your face' and 'clobber them over the head' mentality. Most of today's morality messages in film are two-dimensional: extreme violence, murder and mayhem mark the bad. The bad are really, really, bad, and good are super heroes.It is as if human character lacked any nuance. The Rime of The Ancient Mariner is a celebration of the individual, of character, of an appreciation for celebrating all the richness life has to offer, within the larger context of humanity, i.e., man's capacity to give to others.
Proud of ourselves for having found this "unknown" gem, we then learned it had won the top award in its category five out of six times at "name" international film festivals. Another surprise was learning the film's director, Raul daSilva, is a recognized authority on early animation, and authored six award winning books about film.
This film's message is just as relevant today, if not more so, than when Coleridge penned the original epic poem and when Raul daSilva translated it to film. If I still was teaching high school, which I did for five years, I'd grab this one and show it to all my students. There's a level of richness here that naturally leads to discussion about the big and important issues all of us face, whether in 1798, 1978, or today--in fact, as long as humanity has a spiritual component.
Highly recommended.


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Samuel Taylor Coleridge's epic poem is brought to life with an evocative mix of animated and real images which givethis famous poem an exciting new dimension.This visuallyremarkable cinematic work is narrated by Sir Michael Redgrave, who gives an inspired reading of this literary classic. The program is presented in two parts.Part One is a biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge from his orphaned childhood, through his vain attempts at being a dashing blade in 18th Century London. It also traces his tragic encounter with opium, his brief, ill conceived flight into the army and how his friendship with William and Dorothy Wordsworth inspired him to write "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Part Two is a unique visualization of Coleridge's evocative poem that takes us on a strange and lonely voyage where time and space are as limitless as the imagination.

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The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the finest theatrical productions of all time, no question. Beautifully staged and brilliantly performed; 39 of the world's best actors play more than 150 roles.
The DVD set should be better than this. (The play gets 5 stars; the DVD gets 1.)
It is improperly cut and sloppily transferred. A&E has released it (after much anticipation) not in its original four 2-hour acts but in the nine 1-hour episodes that they cut for broadcast on television, with intros and credits every hour. All they've done is transfer their 9-cassette VHS release, with intros, opening and closing credits and a "previously seen" commentary (meant for the TV audience watching it over a period of nine days) onto four DVDs, frustratingly marring the flow of the production. Not only does the play get interrupted every hour, but at one point you have to change discs mid-scene. In addition (and inexplicably) this DVD version is missing a scene that's on the VHS.
If A&E gets their act together, they'll rerelease this set and return this incredible play back to its original structure, without the cuts and interruptions. Isn't that the point of DVD? Bear in mind also that many of the glowing reviews on this site refer to the VHS set (and the play itself) and don't address the inept job of transferring the VHS onto DVD. (Amazon's reviewer even credits Jim Goddard as the director, when all he did was arrange cameras and make adjustments for taping; the actual directors of the play, Trevor Nunn and John Napier, go unmentioned.)
As you may have read in other reviews, the original stage production was four 2-hour acts in two parts (the running time of the play is actually 8 hours without the intermissions, not 9, as is stated in Amazon's review), and Parts I and II could be seen all in one day or over two consecutive nights. The designers of this set could have devoted one disc per part, without interruption, with one more disc for any extras (there aren't many). A four-disc set is excessive and inappropriate; it allows them to up their price while it weakens the experience of the play. (Peter Brook's 9-hour stage production of "The Mahabharata" is on two DVDs, in fine quality and half the price.)
I saw the play on Broadway in 1981 and, like most in that theater, fell in love with it. I've had the VHS version all this time and hoped that eventually it would be on DVD, carefully restored.
I would avoid buying this set and wait until they release one that's complete, uncut and faithful to the play. It's one of the greatest stage productions of all time. It features the Royal Shakespeare Company in its prime. It deserves better than this. The movies "Pearl Harbor" and "Dogma" got better DVD treatments. That's pretty sad.

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LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NICKL - DVD Movie

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William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night DVD: Performed in American Sign Language and English Review

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(More customer reviews)William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a DVD theater production of Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy especially for deaf and hearing-impaired viewers. Featuring an American Sign Language performance with a stellar cast including deaf actors Adrian Blue, Peter Cook, Robert DeMayo, Monique Holt, and Jackie Roth, optional captions, and a lively English voice-over track for accessability to hearing audiences, William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a singularly expressive and vivacious presentation. A "must-see" Shakespeare experience for ASL users everywhere. 131 minutes, color.

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William Shakespeare\'s wonderful romantic romp Twelfth Night now can be viewed on DVD translated into a vivacious American Sign Language performance. Director Peter Novak presents a stellar cast of Deaf actors in this unique production, including Adrian Blue, Peter Cook, Robert DeMayo, Monique Holt, Jacke Roth, and Dennis Webster. These accomplished performers bring alive the confused lovers Viola, Orsino, Sebastian, and Olivia, and present hilarious characterizations of the wily Maria, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the feisty clown Feste, and the dour steward Malvolio. Accompanied by an equally accomplished English voice-over, the actors add sensational brio and panache to their interpretation of this delightful comedy, all enhanced by the singular expressiveness of ASL. This fully captioned DVD enables viewers to experience Twelfth Night in an utterly unique way. Also, they can delve further into its creation by visiting a special Internet site that features explanations of the techniques used for the ASL translation, information about Shakespeare and the inception of the play, and complete lesson plans. Educators and students of ASL and Shakespeare both will benefit enormously from viewing, analyzing, and discussing this remarkable rendition of one of Shakespeare\'s most beloved plays.

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Nicholas Nickleby (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)Charles Dickens- love him or hate him, you must admit that there was never anyone like him. His books are full of social critiques, melodramatic romances, characters so eccentric that they border on crazy and of course jaw dropping coincidences. The books are also wildly entertaining.
There has been a revival of Dickens lately in the form of TV mini-series and Nicholas Nickleby is the latest. The title character has just lost his father in death and now, in his late teens, he must find a way to support and protect his sweet sister Kate and somewhat silly mother. Their only relative is their uncle, the greedy and cold Ralph Nickleby.
Ralph gets Nicholas a job as a teacher in Yorkshire and Kate a job assisting a dressmaker. Here is where the main problems of the story come into play. Both Kate and Nicholas have the same problems, they are too good looking and talented. That may seem like no problem but they have no money and their equals in station are jealous of them. Also, they have to fend off unwelcome advances at every turn. The young actors playing Kate and Nicholas manage to make their characters good without being saccarine, a challenge to say the least.
The Yorkshire school where Nicholas is sent is a horror, the boys are abused particularly the silent waif Smike. Nicholas befriends Smike and then protects him from a beating. Forced to escape with Smike, Nicholas is disowned by his uncle for being ungrateful. He is told that if he sees his sister and mother again, Ralph will throw them into the street. Nicholas agrees to leave but swears vengeance if Kate or his mother suffer in any way at Ralph's hands.
This is pretty much how the movie goes, more and more problems come up and the characters escape by the skin of their teeth. The rivalry between Nicholas and Ralph is very well acted and one of the highlights of this miniseries.
Dickens purists will doubtlessly complain about the many cuts that had to be made due to time constraints but they were needed for the film to run smoothly. All in all, this is a very good adaptation that does not modernize the tale too much. (This has been a problem in far too many adaptions of the classics, over-modernization)
There are abductions, rescues, duels, chases, forced marriages, and one BIG suprise ending. (no Dickens novel is complete without a murder/attempted murder, a suicide and a suprise ending)
If you are looking for an old fashioned soaper, this is it. I could not reccommend it for children since some of the abuses at the school are rather disturbing. However, this is how things were in the worse schools in Dickens's time and it is rather an eye-opener. I would say in American ratings, this movie ranges from a PG to a PG-13 so parents will have to make their decisions accordingly.

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A commence, brutal and passionate take of greed and love in Victorian England. A top-notch cast of veteran actors and rising young newcomers shines in a lavish new British production of the Charles Dickens classic. The hero, a penniless young gentleman, struggles to make his way in the world and protect his mother and sister, meeting up with the worst and best of humanity along the way. Charles Dance (The Jewel in the Crown) stars as Ralph Nickleby, with James D'Arcy (Rebel Heart) as Nicholas and Sophia Myles (Mansfield Park) as his beautiful sister, Kate. Other standouts include Lee Ingleby (Ever After) as Smike, Nicholas' faithful companion, and Dominic West (28 Days) as the lecherous Sir Mulberry Hawk.

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Nicholas Nickleby Review

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(More customer reviews)I have viewed four versions of this Dickens classic and find the BBC set starring Havers to be the most consistantly satisfying. The oldest version is processed from a print too damaged to produce a satisfactory result from the audio or visual standpoint. The stage version by the Royal Shakespeare group has many wonderful things about it but I miss the visual images of the architecure and countryside which are so much a part of the author's world. The recent version staring Dallimore is short on Dickensian humor and the heavy handed music score does too much to sink the performance.
Unlike another reviewer, I do not find Havers too old for the role of Nicholas. He is supposed to be 19 and many 19 year olds look much older than Nigel does. The best things about this BBC version are the wonderful views of the countryside and the look of the houses and towns.
The music is minimal but with Dicken's contant scene shifts I don't find that I miss it. The actors are true to the reputation of British television actors. Mostly trained on the stage, they are dependably wonderful. One might choose other actors in other versions as being one's favorites for this or that role, but overall this seems to be the choice for a good basic rendering of this classic.

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Nigel Havers stars as the young Nicholas Nickleby in the BBC’s triumphant adaptations of one of Charles Dickens’ most celebrated novels. Upon the death of his father Nicholas, along with his mother and sister, finds himself destitute and at the mercy of his stern Uncle Ralph. Ralph cruelly dispatches his niece to a dressmaking establishment, while Nicholas is sent to a vile and oppressive boarding school for unwanted and unloved children run by the sadistic Wackford Squeers. Darkly satirical, angry, funny and hugely entertaining, Nicholas Nickleby is filled with the richest assortment of oddball characters that could only have originated from the quill of Charles Dickens.

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