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A Raisin in the SunRating:
Release Date: 22 February, 2000 Retail Price: $24.95 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
A Raisin in the Sun Reviews
A high point in American cinema
For one who has never had the chance to se this luminous film, you have a rare treat in store. Lorraine Hansberry adapted her NY Drama Critics Circle Award-winning drama for the screen in 1961. It is a deeply compassionate film with an ensemble cast unequaled in its day.
Hansberry had the power to translate a black family's struggles into a universal parable that bears repeated viewing for its magnificent dialogue, rich black and white photography and unforgettable performances.
It was the film that launched not only Sidney Poitier's career, and also inspired the start of so many other careers for talented African-Americans. Claudia McNeil's performance is towering as Lena Younger, her final soliloquy ("Have You Cried for That Boy Today?") one of the most moving highlights of the film.
Ruby Dee's nuanced portrayal of Ruth Younger is one in which the actress is completely immersed in her character: beautiful, vulnerable, tenacious. Even when the script calls for Ruth to be resigned, grief-stricken or fatigued, she is infused with life and is always very, very beautiful.
Diana Sands also delivers a bravura role as Lena's headstrong daughter, providing much of the comic relief in the script.
The pacing of Daniel Petrie's direction is flawless and Lawrence Rosenthal's musical score heartrending.
My only complaint is that Columbia Pictures has not yet released a fully-remastered, two disc special edition of this historic film. The package provides a "widecreen" version of the film on one side and a full-screen version on the other. The film source run on the full-screen side is slightly off-speed, painfully evident inmusical pitch of the main title. So buyers should just move to the wide-screen side, which
has a warmer transfer with the source film running on-speed. I can only imagine the gifts Criterion collection would bestow on this timeless work.
One of my top-20 for over thirty years.
magnificent and thought-provoking film.....
This adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's compelling play is marvelously executed. Credit goes in no small part to the wonderful cast (Sidney Poitier as the mercurial Walter Lee Younger, the legendary Ruby Dee as his wife, Ruth, Diana Sands as his spirited sister, Beneatha, and Claudia McNeil as the matriarch, Lena Younger).
RAISIN is centered on the Younger family. When Lena Younger, the mother and head of the family, is widowed, she is left with $10,000.00 in insurance money. The family must decide how to spend the inheritance. It is between funding her daughter, Beneatha's education and purchasing a house for the family. Walter Lee wants to invest part of the inheritance in a business (specifically, a liquor store).
This film examines the African-American experience in 1950s Chicago, where racial tensions are strong (and remain so today). There is also an underlying examination of the strain existing in the African-American experience in the United States (specifically, in the experiences and conflicts in the identity of Beneatha, Walter Lee's younger sister). An example of the tension between the African and African-American experience is really illustrated in Beneatha's interest in African culture and her commitment to establishing pride in her identity. This play is truly a groundbreaking, important and truly original look at the African-American experience. I really reccomend that everyone see it! This is also a great introduction to legendary actors, Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee.
More Customer Reviews (18 total)
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