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.

Popular Posts