Underplayed Gems

The Designated Mourner (1997)

The Designated Mourner poster
Directed by
David Hare
Genre
drama film
Country
United Kingdom
Runtime
1h 34m
Rating
5.6 of 10 from 7 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Three people talk in a room about politics and personal loss. A man reflects on the collapse of his marriage and the fall of a society around him.

cerebralbleakcontemplativestagedtalkyintimatemelancholicrestrained

What happens

The Designated Mourner is a play written by Wallace Shawn in 1996, which was adapted into a film and was directed by David Hare in 1997. The film, which follows the play's script closely, is based on the original London stage production directed by Hare and has the same cast: Mike Nichols as Jack, Miranda Richardson as Judy, and David de Keyser as Howard. The North American premiere of The Designated Mourner was staged in March 1997 by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, directed by Les Waters, with David Shapiro as Jack, Martha Lavey as Judy, and Nicholas Rudall as Howard. Andre Gregory subsequently directed a stage production in New York City in 2000 and a radio play, both of which featured Wallace Shawn as Jack, Deborah Eisenberg as Judy, and Larry Pine as Howard. The play was revived in 2017 at Redcat (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater). The production was directed by André Gregory, featuring the same cast from the New York production, and was presented by Alex Westerman. The play was ranked the 10th greatest American play of the past 25 years in a 2018 list by The New York Times critics. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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