Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest examples of 20th century American dramas. See why in this gripping father and son scene brilliantly played by Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich
Just incredible. How they managed to do this 185 times on Broadway the year before without having a collective nervous breakdown is testament to their acting capabilities. I couldn't have done it once. Truly, one of the greatest plays of the modern era.
Everyone should ask themselves: "Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?" If it's not phony- Then it will stay through the flames. If it is phony- then you will see it for what it is. And you can move on. Without quiet desperation.
I was fortunate enough to see this on broadway..it was a matinee and I sat next to Maureen Stapleton,which was another thrill! the performance was so powerful it made me shake..this is what theater is all about
Just walk the fuck away. Just walk the fuck away now. It won't have mattered. Don't waste a moment of your life performing for them. Just leave. Find something that you love and just do it. Don't wait for it. Don't earn it. Just do it.
This is the supreme difference between stage and screen acting. In film, there's the ability to do a scene over if it's not what the director wants. On stage, it is do or die. No do-overs, no CUT!, nothing but the purity of performance. Miller pulled the flag back on the American Dream and revealed the shadowy reality of failed dreams. Excellent acting from Malkovich and Hoffman.
If you haven't watched this entire production you should. The brilliance is that very early on the camera pans up and you can see they're performing in a theater setting. From then on it takes on an entirely different perspective. BRILLIANT acting, writing and directing. As good as it gets.
Doesn't get much better than this. This production was off the hook. The shot where the camera pans up, shows the stage lighting, and pans down is freaking brilliant. This is a play. And these are serious stage actors.
I just watched this film last night and this is such a powerful scene! I love that they did the setting like a stage production too, it worked superbly
Two years after this movie, John Malkovich played Tom Wingfield in a movie version of Tennessee Williams's "The Glass Menagerie". But when you analyze it carefully, Biff and Tom are basically the same character. Both are a browbeaten and disillusioned son of a loving but overbearing parent, and in the end, they both have to leave the family, on less-than-good terms, to save themselves.
The point is that that in America you are lead to believe that through hard work you can reach the top, and set yourself apart. That's drilled in to you from the moment you enter the school system. The flip-side of the individual spirit (which I'm totally for) is that when/if you fall short, who do you blame? Is Willy the victim of society, or his own worst enemy? I don't think either Biff or Willy is right, how could you know? In the end, I think this is a play about futility.
I was lucky enough to see it on broadway also with Dustin,John Malkovitch ,Kate Reid..this post was such a treat to see that scene again ..thanks...and we sat next to Maureen Stapleton to boot!
I'm having such a surreal moment right now. I was brought to this video because I was watching Synecdoche, New York, written and directed by Charlie Kaufman. I searched "death of a salesman philip seymour hoffman" on the RU-vid search bar, and this is the first video that came up. It just so happens that it accidentally brought me to this same play, but the play includes John Malkovich. Both of these two actors played manifestations of Charlie Kaufman's mind, and are connected profoundly. So weird that I am experiencing this connection in other ways in my own life. Thank you Charlie...
One of the great American plays, or any. Hoffman tries very hard and does get an intensity, but often too shrill. It is John Malkovich who electrifies this with his performance, he lives the part and we are caught up in his voice, behavior and performance.
Agree agree. Hoffman is delivering a brilliant observed piece, very technical but very effective (I imagine when this production was on stage it was even more effective) but Malkovich IS THE ROLE, in this scene in particular - a living and breathing representation of everything that destroys people and the fear of failure that leads them to live desperate lives. Such astonishing writing.
Great play. Miller was big on poking holes in the American dream. Crucible, All My Sons. This seemed like his take on the post-new deal feeling of "we got through the depression and ww2, but now we're just a bunch of cogs"
i'm saying that the existence of the idea of an 'american dream' is helpful for people who write tragedies. expectations and hopes are great for tragedy. shattered hopes and dreams = quality tragedy. its hard to make a tragedy where there was no hope to begin with.
This is all but still applicable to american society, the father who thought he came from the bottom and could see his son do the same. The son making him realize him and the family were always at the bottom.
Biff struggled a bit, but ultimately, none of them are really at the bottom of the totem pole in American society either. They’re just average middle class citizens who worked hard and made just enough to live in moderate comfort. Willie can’t accept that he and his family are just like everyone else.
If you see that scene and it doesnt get to you emotionally your not human. How can actors on stage do that kind of scene night after night it is an amazing talent if they can.
Stupenda pellicola per la televisione, non è chissà che cosa ma comunque è gradevole da seguire, quindi stupenda e stupenda per me come valutazione è 8.
Sorry but i don't think there has been more than 10 scenes in all of cinema that have reached that level of greatness through drama since it was produced. They don't make drama like this anymore.
Personally I prefer Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal as it was the first time I had ever seen the production, but Dustin Hoffman is also brilliant in a different, more subtle way. PSH's version was played much bigger.
Willy was trying to commit suicide with it. His wife pretended not to notice it, she'd just readjust it or something, showing her denial. Biff, in this scene, confronts him about it.
I still don't understand this play...even though I' ve seen it on stage twice. So you are a dime a dozen...so what, all glory is fleeting for everyone. You make your mark, and then you are passed up...that's the way it is for everybody, from janitors to presidents.
Nice, but I really prefer the classic original scene from Death Of A Salesman. Both Malkovich and Hoffman are great actor, but it seems a lack of direction. Malkovich screams in parts which words doesn't mean anything and the behavior is not getting anywhere, the tension goes up and down and so
And I stopped and I realized who I am,so why can't I stop these psycho therapy sessions, Willie?! Why am I so addicted to drama Willie?! I suppose that's my fault... It's nobody fault Willie.... Why do I need so much unnecessary drama in my life? Why do I need to have more psycho drama sessions with myself when there's more unnecessary drama waiting for me out there? Now why can't I do that Willie? Would you let go of all this drama? Can we stop these psychotherapy sessions?
