Harold Pinter adapted his own play for The Birthday Party, a bizarre and enigmatic film set in a seaside boardinghouse. Robert Shaw stars as Stanley Weber, an unemployed, failed pianist holes up in a dingy rented room only to have two strangers arrive who insidiously badger, pester, and eventually terrorize him to the point of speechlessness. With the play being written near the height of the Cold War movement in 1958, some critics have suggested Pinter is making a statement about living under a brutal Communist regime where every state action and thought is predicated on controlling and undermining the actions and thoughts of others. Meanwhile, the simple and deluded types, such as the owners of the boardinghouse, are lulled into a quasi-free existence in which they are obedient, easily influenced, or believe what they are told.
The claustrophobic setting highlights the irrelevance of surroundings when one's thoughts are easily controlled or influenced. The symbolism of the game of blind man's bluff and the eyeglasses incident are not lost on the viewer considering this perception of Pinter's play. As in most of Pinter's plays, the dialog is a standout as well as the acting of the four leads. The play could just as easily be seen as an experience that confounds the viewer with its conundrums and its lack of empathy for the characters. It's reminiscent of Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" and Kafka's "The Trial", both of which are open to multiple interpretations requiring multiple viewings in order to gain additional perspectives. William Friedkin directed this, his second feature, because Pinter probably couldn't get anyone else to do it. It's definitely not a film for all tastes. *** of 4 stars.
The claustrophobic setting highlights the irrelevance of surroundings when one's thoughts are easily controlled or influenced. The symbolism of the game of blind man's bluff and the eyeglasses incident are not lost on the viewer considering this perception of Pinter's play. As in most of Pinter's plays, the dialog is a standout as well as the acting of the four leads. The play could just as easily be seen as an experience that confounds the viewer with its conundrums and its lack of empathy for the characters. It's reminiscent of Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" and Kafka's "The Trial", both of which are open to multiple interpretations requiring multiple viewings in order to gain additional perspectives. William Friedkin directed this, his second feature, because Pinter probably couldn't get anyone else to do it. It's definitely not a film for all tastes. *** of 4 stars.