Movie/Play Review: Death of Salesman

Continuing the review of Death of a Salesman. My Advanced English class watched the movie after finishing the book, and if you read my previous review of the book, you can see that I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book/play. I felt that the (original) cast and movie matched the same level of effect reading the play delivered. Like the book, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie and if anyone in my class had started to cry I probably would have cried as well.
I talked about how much I enjoyed the character Linda in my previous review, and I believe actor, Mildred Dunnock, portrayed her character seamlessly. Although the character for Willy Loman wasn't portrayed as well, I thought it was interesting to see how other people interpreted his role. I watched another clip of another rendition of Death of a Salesman, and there Willy was a much more fidgety man, and I thought that portrayed him more how the play, I felt, depicted him.
As for the movie, I thought it was very well done; especially with the characters fading in and out of the story so incredibly seamlessly. Ultimately, I felt watching the movie added more depth to the central idea. The original movie/cast played their parts so well it was almost as I had imagined it when I was reading the play. One of my favorite characters that I thought were portrayed particularly well was Bernard. If you haven't already read the book, Bernard is essentially a "nerdy," book-smart kid in Willy's flashbacks. However, in the present time, Bernard has become almost the kind of man he envisioned his son, Biff, to become. Everything from playing tennis with wealthy friends who owned tennis courts to testing before the Supreme Court, all the success Bernard exhibited was everything Willy had/has for Biff.
Overall, I think you have to watch the film to understand the potency the movie delivered compared to the book. I know I am missing a lot of the plot from this review, but I just can't give everything away if you haven't watched/read it because it's simply that great. Although I don't think the movie was better than the book, the film definitely delivered an emotional impact different from that of the book. Great play, great characters, great lesson.

Side note: I might do an entirely different review on the influence the playwright, Arthur Miller, has in his writings, because he has gone through some significant life events that I feel need to be noted.

Play/Book Review: Death of a Salesman

It has officially been a month since the last time I have uploaded. Oops. I have been incredibly busy with numerous things. It is nearing the end of the semester, and I have had to complete my last assignments and when I do have free time — I nap. I also have my SATs coming up which I have been preparing for regularly. Apart from me being gone for a significant amount of time, I recently finished reading Death of a Salesman for my Advanced English class at my local community college, and — to say the least — it was intriguing.
My first impressions of the play were that it was going to be boring and probably not interesting; however; this was not the case. The play was fascinating, and although the plot wasn't tremendously thick, it kept me captivated. When my professor first mentioned the writing style Arthur Miller had adapted for the play I was intrigued. If you haven't already read it (which you should) the main character, Willy Loman seems to be a falling to the deterioration of his youth and into old age. He expresses many moments of lostness and misunderstandings because he is hallucinating of things that are not actually occurring. This addition that Miller included, to have characters fade in and out with Willy's conscious was ingenious and is without a doubt what perpetuated Death of a Salesman to its well-knowingness.
Having different characters fade in and out throughout the story really helped give context to some of the characters such as Biff. It's unclear why Biff acts the way he does after high school; however, with Willy's flashbacks we see that Biff was indeed affected by what his father had done years ago and just before summer after he was supposed to graduate. It was instances such as this that I genuinely appreciated the literary choice Arthur Miller chose to write the Death of a Salesman.
Overall, I thought the play was fascinating and tragic. During both, the play and live-action play, I became emotional, because Willy was very much an "Everyman" and everything he was going through was all so severe. Of all the characters, however, my favorite had to be Linda Loman, both in the play and the movie. Linda, the stereotypical woman at the time, dedicated her entire life for Willy because she loved him so much; even after he had placed the rubber tubing down in the basement, Linda stuck through it with him. Linda was a committed partner, and when Willy died, I had no other feeling but to feel sad for her because she had done so much out of love for him and she was there and witnessed his well-being deteriorate. As for the Happy and Biff, I'll probably go more into depth with their characters in the movie review I am going to do for the written play. As for this review, I thought the play was undeniably touching and emotional and certainly earned its reputation as one of the most iconic American plays.