Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 34
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 4
Beautiful performances and the subtle hand of master Louis Malle make this adaptation of Chekov's Uncle Vanya an eccentric presentation of an enduring classic.
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 1
Beautiful performances and the subtle hand of master Louis Malle make this adaptation of Chekov's Uncle Vanya an eccentric presentation of an enduring classic.
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 1,294
Movie Info
In the late 1980s, noted theatrical director Andre Gregory assembled a group of friends and actors and began rehearsing a new translation of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya by David Mamet, not with any specific performance in mind but as a way of exploring the beauty and precise construction of Chekhov's play. Louis Malle, a friend of Gregory's, became interested in the project and spent two weeks filming Gregory's actors as they performed Uncle Vanya without an audience in a run-down theater near
Jun 1, 1995 Wide
Sep 24, 2002
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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Cast
-
Wallace Shawn
Vanya -
Larry Pine
Dr. Astrov -
Andre Gregory
Himself -
Brooke Smith
Sonya -
Julianne Moore
Yelena -
Phoebe Brand
Marina -
George Gaynes
Serybryakov -
Jerry Mayer
Waffles -
Madhur Jaffrey
Mrs. Chao -
Lynn Cohen
Maman
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All Critics (34) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (4) | DVD (6)
It's amazing it has taken Wallace Shawn, Andre Gregory, and director Louis Malle more than 10 years to collaborate again. It was worth the wait, though.
The performances are precise, the language is alive and well spoken and the setting is striking, but Vanya on 42nd Street still suffers rather heavily from the limitations of filmed theater.
Malle adeptly eases us into the play so we can't tell at what precise moment Chekhov takes over, an ambiguity that becomes the film's triumph as well as its key limitation.
There's more power here than in all the multi-million dollar fireworks of Hollywood.
Top CriticThe elegant understatement of this production turns it into a livelier experiment, a fluent, gripping version of one of Chekhov's more elusive plays.
This live-wire Vanya, freshly observed for the '90s, is fiercely funny, touching and vital.
... a record of a creative collaboration that has a life of its own, at once documentary, filmed rehearsal, play within a play, and private production restaged for a camera...
Reuniting with Andrew Gregory, Louis Malle, in what became his swan song, has made a modern, captivation version of the Chekhov play.
The drawback, however, is that the actors chew the scenery in true stagecraft fashion, which, on film, induces regular wincing and a wish that they would hand out the valium and take it easy.
Not entirely successful, but undeniably brave.
There are moments of considerable power here but this stripped-down rendering gives us something closer to a latterday dysfunctional family than Chekhov's doomed bourgeoisie.
It offers a unique viewing at a work in progress.
A movie by, about and for actors.
Despite great acting, the general impression of the film is underwhelming.
It's more than a worthy capper to Malle's brilliant career.
A lively and intriguing adaptation of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya."
Much too talky.
The overall effect of Uncle Vanya on 42nd Street is that one has just experienced something truly timeless.
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Movie: ID: 11429 Title: Vanya on 42nd Street Release Date: 1995-06-01 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 2 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Vanya 42. Straße (DE)
- Vanya, 42e Rue (FR)
