Death of a SalesmanDonning grey hair, stoop and all-round world-weariness, Dustin Hoffman plays travelling salesman Willy Loman - Arthur Miller's tragic casualty of the American Dream - a depressed middle-aged man forced to shed all illusions of success and confront his pathetic, failed career and crumbling family life.
Schlorndorff's uncompromising adaptation is very classy: the actors register flawless, emotionally spot-on performances. John Malkovich puts in a cool, disgruntled Biff (Willy's kleptomaniac son) while Hoffman (who appeared in the play on Broadway in 1964) is outstanding as Willy.
Miller's words are insightful and direct, stripped of superfluous chit-chat, while Alex North's low, haunting score amplifies the melancholy.
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