Visit from an Unknown Woman - Hampstead Theatre
Jun 27, 2024 12:01:47 GMT
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joem and kate8 like this
Post by Steve on Jun 27, 2024 12:01:47 GMT
Saw this last night and enjoyed it.
It isn't a very twisty story, being rather similar to one of those one-twist-only Roald Dahl "Tales of the Unexpected" short stories, though its a much older story. The straightforwardness of the story reflects itself in the running time which is a pithy 1 hour 10 minutes (without an interval).
Obviously, if you've read Stefan Zweig's short story "Letter from an Unknown Woman" (I haven't) or if you've seen the Max Ophuls film starring Louis Jourdan and Joan Fontaine (I have), you will know the twist in advance. But I feel the need to be coy for those that haven't as Christopher Hampton has restructured the short story such that the twist happens significantly later than it does in the Zweig, and thus he expects the twist to be a big moment.
The atmosphere is successfully mysterious and spooky, and the acting is on point, particularly by Natalie Simpson as the main character, Marianne.
Some spoilers follow. . .
Suffice to say, it's a relationship story and Hampton has melded some biographical details of Zweig to the central male character, such that he is a Jewish writer in thirties Vienna, which is dangerous. Although Zweig's actual personal fate is never mentioned, suffice to say its a decent approximate fit to his own short story, so Hampton's melding makes sense.
Further, the main character is called Lisa in the film, so I expect changing it to Marianne (per the website) is a Leonard Cohen reference by Hampton lol.
Anyhow, Hampton's big choice is turning the "Letter" of the short story into a "Visit," and that also makes a lot of sense for a theatre adaptation, compressing the intrigue and drama.
The atmosphere is solitary and spooky, dimly lit with a canted stage (you see better from audience left than audience right) to enhance the skewed, strange atmosphere, which is also complemented by an incessant piano and violin soundtrack, and a younger actress playing a younger Marianne (who is a lot less talkative lol).
Thomas Levin's Zweig is surprisingly easygoing, rather than tense, for a man who must be under a lot of pressure, and Natalie Simpson captures the singular determination of Marianne coupled with her immense pliability.
The comments that follow in spoiler brackets are for those who know the original story only:
Anyhow, for me, what the story lacks in complexity, it mostly makes up for in well-rendered atmosphere and in the originality of Zweig's conceptions, so I'd give this 3 and a half stars.
It isn't a very twisty story, being rather similar to one of those one-twist-only Roald Dahl "Tales of the Unexpected" short stories, though its a much older story. The straightforwardness of the story reflects itself in the running time which is a pithy 1 hour 10 minutes (without an interval).
Obviously, if you've read Stefan Zweig's short story "Letter from an Unknown Woman" (I haven't) or if you've seen the Max Ophuls film starring Louis Jourdan and Joan Fontaine (I have), you will know the twist in advance. But I feel the need to be coy for those that haven't as Christopher Hampton has restructured the short story such that the twist happens significantly later than it does in the Zweig, and thus he expects the twist to be a big moment.
The atmosphere is successfully mysterious and spooky, and the acting is on point, particularly by Natalie Simpson as the main character, Marianne.
Some spoilers follow. . .
Suffice to say, it's a relationship story and Hampton has melded some biographical details of Zweig to the central male character, such that he is a Jewish writer in thirties Vienna, which is dangerous. Although Zweig's actual personal fate is never mentioned, suffice to say its a decent approximate fit to his own short story, so Hampton's melding makes sense.
Further, the main character is called Lisa in the film, so I expect changing it to Marianne (per the website) is a Leonard Cohen reference by Hampton lol.
Anyhow, Hampton's big choice is turning the "Letter" of the short story into a "Visit," and that also makes a lot of sense for a theatre adaptation, compressing the intrigue and drama.
The atmosphere is solitary and spooky, dimly lit with a canted stage (you see better from audience left than audience right) to enhance the skewed, strange atmosphere, which is also complemented by an incessant piano and violin soundtrack, and a younger actress playing a younger Marianne (who is a lot less talkative lol).
Thomas Levin's Zweig is surprisingly easygoing, rather than tense, for a man who must be under a lot of pressure, and Natalie Simpson captures the singular determination of Marianne coupled with her immense pliability.
The comments that follow in spoiler brackets are for those who know the original story only:
This being a benign stalker story, where stalking someone for decades is equated with love, is, for me, the story's raisin d'etre, that it's so different to most stalker stories. Therefore, I do not like some of Hampton's choices for Marianne, who is more bitter and negative in her actions than in Ophuls' film, although she is gifted with more agency in her fate than in the Zweig.
Anyhow, for me, what the story lacks in complexity, it mostly makes up for in well-rendered atmosphere and in the originality of Zweig's conceptions, so I'd give this 3 and a half stars.
