{"id":44975,"date":"2024-08-30T19:41:45","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T23:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=44975"},"modified":"2024-08-30T19:41:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T23:41:45","slug":"the-bootleg-files-no-mans-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/30\/the-bootleg-files-no-mans-land\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: No Man’s Land"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 877:<\/strong> \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d (1978 production of the Harold Pinter play starring John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube. <\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> There might be a right issue that is unresolved. <\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: <\/strong>A re-release on DVD and Blu-ray is not likely at this time.<\/p>\n

The greatest actors are those who do double-duty as alchemists \u2013 they have the unique gift of turning leaden works into marvels of shining gold. John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson are widely considered to be among the finest British actors of the 20th century, and together they elevated Harold Pinter\u2019s less-than-remarkable drama \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d into an invigorating experience.
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Yes, I realize that my opinion of Pinter\u2019s play is a minority view, but the problem I have with the work is that it offers a surplus of Pinter\u2019s vices and deficit of his virtues. The second act is especially wobbly with its bizarre efforts to tie up loose story threads and a subtle-as-a-sledgehammer reinforcement of the title\u2019s meaning. But for its initial production \u2013 which was staged in London by the National Theatre in 1975 and later recorded for a BBC television broadcast in 1978 \u2013 \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d succeeds through the sheer force of dramatic energy of Gielgud and Richardson, who use their voices and body language in a manner the camouflages the weakness in Pinter\u2019s text.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d takes place in the drawing room of Hirst (Richardson), a prominent litterateur who has returned from an evening at the pub with Spooner (Gielgud), a shabbily dressed man he met while drinking. Hirst conducts himself in an aristocratic and confident manner, and initially he is mostly a quiet audience to Spooner\u2019s rambling talk about himself and literary matters. The men continue their drinking and Spooner slowly identifies himself as a poet \u2013 but not as financially and professionally successful in his literary endeavors as Hirst.<\/p>\n

Spooner\u2019s talk strangely shifts to a somewhat unctuous yet insulting level, calling into question Hirst\u2019s masculinity and relation with his wife (who is mentioned but never seen). Hirst\u2019s confidence morphs into a confused state, either one of drunkenness or cognitive decline. Hirst abruptly declares, \u201cNo man’s land…does not move…or change…or grow old…remains…forever…icy…silent\u201d \u2013 and then collapses on the floor. Spooner makes no effort to help him up, forcing Hirst to crawl to the door and exit to a staircase that he ascends on hands and knees. Spooner watches Hirst and says, \u201cI\u2019ve known this before \u2013 exit through the door, by way of belly and floor.\u201d <\/p>\n

Spooner is then joined by Hirst\u2019s employees, his secretary Foster (Michael Kitchen) and his valet\/butler Briggs (Terence Rigby). Both men have a working class, rough trade demeanor that seems at odds with someone of Hirst\u2019s social level, and the pair are immediately suspicious of Spooner\u2019s presence and motives. Hirst returns wearing a silk bathrobe and proceeds to drink more while wondering who Spooner is and why he is present. When Foster says that Spooner claimed to be a friend of his, Hirst replies, \u201cMy true friends of mine look out to me from an album.\u201d Hirst talks of a dream where he saw someone drowning and Spooner insists that he was the drowning figure in that dream. Briggs is forced to lift Hirst and walk him out of the room while Spooner shuts off the lights to leave Spooner in the dark.<\/p>\n

As for the second act \u2013 well, for those who never saw \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d and may want to give it a go, I won\u2019t discuss it because that raises too many spoilers, along with some inconsistencies from the characters\u2019 first act interactions. I can say that Spooner gets to repeat the gloomy remark about no man\u2019s land, reminding everyone of the state of emotional limbo where the characters dwell.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of Pinter, there’s plenty of pauses, enigmatic dialogue, emotional angst and all of his gloomy trademarks. For the rest of us, the production is a treasure thanks to its two iconic stars. Gielgud\u2019s Spooner is both venomous and pathetic, a self-important figure who tries to maintain shreds of dignity as his pretentions are stripped away and his inadequacies are exposed. Richardson\u2019s Hirst is a man adrift from the world and supported only by conniving employees who clearly don\u2019t have the old man\u2019s best interests in mind. Both actors give their characters a depth and scope that rises above Pinter\u2019s uninspired plotting and often creaky dialogue \u2013 Gielgud is a riot of fawning and sneering while Richardson\u2019s turns between flashes lucidity and stretches of painful incoherence is jolting. How they make their unlikable characters so invigorating is a master class in acting.<\/p>\n

From what I can determine, \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d was never broadcast on U.S. television and is still absent from American home entertainment channels. An unauthorized upload of the production can be found (and, perhaps, enjoyed) on YouTube.<\/p>\n