Rhinoceros Rating: Release Date: 01 April, 2003 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: Karen Black Gene Wilder Zero Mostel Joe Morton Complete Cast (5 total)

Rhinoceros Reviews

---

Disappointing
One would think that the combination of Eugene Ionesco, Zero Mostel, and Gene Wilder would be a guaranteed success. Sadly, such is not the case with the American Film Theatre production of "Rhinoceros" as committed to film in 1974. While the theme of maintaining one's identity as everyone else goes along with the herd (originally a metaphor for Nazism, McCarthyism, etc.) is intact, Ionesco's text has been so altered that is is destroyed. Here it becomes subject to slapstick, poor unfunny added situations, exaggerated performances, and clumsy direction. The film has been criticized for "staginess," but that is not the real problem. It makes use of camera movement, external sets, etc.; it just has no rhythm. It is a trial to get through it--certainly not the case with Ionesco's original, either on stage or as read to one's self. Gene Wilder is always diverting but the character he portrays has been so tampered with that it's just unpleasant and tedious. Karen Black's character is an embarrassment as are all the other minor characters. The only bright spot in this mess is Zero Mostel, whose fifteen minutes on screen are amazing, his transformation from a dandified fussbudget into a destructive rhinoceros an acting tour-de-force; done without makeup, it encapsulates the essence of the piece. But that's it: the other ninety minutes are dreary and awful.

The DVD is very well transferred, but the extras are disappointing: e.g., an "interview" with Zero Mostel is simply text to be read frame by frame, and an article about Ionesco and the play is simply an on-screen text repetition of the liner notes. There is a very long interview with the director, in murky sound; after seeing his incompetence demonstrated in this film, no one will have any desire to see him drone on about it.

A movie about the absurd
Stanley is a bored, alcoholic young man who feels disconnected from the rest of society. His best friend John is contstantly trying to help him to fit in and get over his feelings of awkwardness. One Sunday morning, while the two are at a restaurant, a rhinoceros rampages through the streets. Soon, Stanley notices more and more rhinoceroses and begins to realize that everyone in town is turning into them. Determined not to change, he confronts John with the problem only to watch his transformation in a rhino. As the rest of the world changes, including Daisy, the woman of his dreams, Stanley desparately tries to transform, but realizes that he can't and that he won't.

This is a good adaptation of the absurdist play by Eugene Ionesco and changes the setting from a small French town to a big US city. Wonderful performances by Gene Wilder as Stanley and Karen Black as Daisy; and a standout performance from Zero Mostel as Stanley's friend John. Tom O'Horgan's direction is definitley unique, making it feel as though the viewer is watching a stage play. The only drawback is the bad '70s music that doesn't fit.

The DVD has some great extras including an interview with Tom O'Horgan, an interview with Zero Mostel, information about Eugene Ionesco, and the original movie trailer, to name a few. The trailer gives an idea of how the studio marketed this film as a comedy, even though it views more along the lines of a drama or a very, very dark comedy.

Having read the play in college, I enjoyed this adaptation. If you enjoy a movie that makes you think, then this is definitely the movie for you.

More Customer Reviews (4 total)

You like Rhinoceros? Then You'll Love This Booty! Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Start The Revolution Without Me Blow-Up The Front Find more DVD's in: Comedy > Farce Drama Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy Comedy All Categories (9 total)