'Birthday party'

Hello, readers here my blog part of activity. This blog sumitted to Department of  English Maharaja KruashnKumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

Harold Pinter:-

• Harold Pinter CH CBE was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Novel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best known plays include 'The Birthday Party.

'The Birthday party:-

• The Birthday Party is the second full length play by Harold Pinter, first published in London by Encore Publishing in 1959. It is one of his best known and most frequently performed plays. In the setting of a rundown seaside boarding house,a little birthday party is turned into a nightmare when two Sinister strangers arrive unexpectedly. The play has been classified as a comedy of menace.

1. Why are two scenes of Lulu omitted from the movie?

• Lulu's two scenes can't omitted from the movie may be Director shown only good thing, and in the movie Lulu's character portrait as differ from novel, And may be he didn't want to focus on female characters in the movie otherwise he was less focus on female characters justification like Meg and Lulu because this character show only few minutes and Meg and Lulu haven't individuals Identity. In the film we can see Meg most of in the kitchen and Lulu show ready for sexual relationship.

2. Is movie successful in giving us the effect of menace? Where you able to feel it while reading the text?

• Yes, while watching movie we do feel the effect of menace. The pause between dialogues we can feel whilewatching, but while reading we don't take pause and we cannot feel also. The effect of menace come when we watch the expression of actors and by that we also can feel.

• The pause and silence of Pinter is hard to understand while reading. When we have audio visual effect the menacing effect becomes stronger. But while reading some time it happens that we do not understand effect and so we can not feel it.

3. Do you feel the effect of lurking danger while viewing the movie? Where you able to feel the same whie reading the text?

• Watching movie at that time knocking on the door with fearful sound and moreover when they played game of blind man's buff with light off and scene of verbal violence by Goldberg & McCann at that time I feel more lurking.

4. What do you in 'Newspaper' in the movie? Petey is reading Newspaper to Meg, it torn into pieces by McCain, pieces are hidden by Petey in last scene. 

• "Newspaper" is used as very significant symobol in the play and in the movie as well. After the opening scene we can see that, Petey is reading a newspaper and Meg is asking about the news to him. It can be interpreted as being a male figure petey is using his power over his wife Meg. Meg and pity both have their indifferent world this is the reason why pity replied in a serious tone When Meg is asking about good news from newspaper. 

• In such way it also becomes a tool for Meg to taunt her husband who is not able to give her a child. In between newspaper is also used as a tool for hiding a face. There is a scene in which MacCann keeps on shredding a newspaper for long time. Through this act may be he bursting out his furiousness of frustration. The sound of tearing out Newspaper creates an uneasy effect on the mind of audience. 

• By this act he may also tries to destroy the reality of his life as well. This sheltered pieces are hidden by Pity in the last scene, through this act we can say that pity don't want that his weakness may come out in front of others or rather he wants to keep him in happy world of illusion.

5. Camera is positioned over the head of MaCain when he is playing Blind Man's Buff and is positioned at the top with a view of room like a cage(trap) when Stanley is playing it. What interpretations can you give to these positioning of camera?

• The technique of camera is very significant throughout the film. It is more material centric than Humans. While playing the game of Blind Man's Buff it shows its main function. The camera first moves in same direction when MacCain was playing the game. It moves over the head of him and wherever it goes it shows other things.

• But when Stanley was playing Blind Man's Buff then it positioned at the top with a view of room like cage,as it signifies the centrality of the main character. How Stanley looks at the situation. He feels the room as just like a cage from which he won't be able to run out. He has to caught at least one in this game. He is helpless.

6. "Pinter restored theatre to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of one another and pretense Crumbles." (Pinter, Art, Truth& Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture). Does this happen in the movie?

• Yes, this do happen in movie. Most of the scenes are in drawing room the space is so narrow and the dialogues are also unpredictable. We can not imagine what is going on in the mind of characters. Every character is on the mercy of each other, Weather it is Stanley, or Petey, Meg, Goldberg, MacCann, or Lulu, Every character is living on other. At some point of time every one's false faces falls down. They became what they really are. So this lines do happen in movie.

7. How does viewing movie helps in better understanding of the play 'The Birthday Party'  with its typical characteristics (like Painteresque, pause, lurking danger, silence, menace)?

• Really Movie help for better understanding of the play 'The Birthday party'. In the Movie I can well understand tone like silence, pause, menace. But in the movie I can't seen Painteresque characteristics while reading a play at that time I was seeing Painteresque characteristics.

8. With which of the following observations you agree.

• I want to agree with the second observation because first of I can't think about make movie upon this type of play because It's difficult task to make this type of movie and here Pinter empathetic way used all movie making technique and powerful script. This film also used many things symbolic way.

9. Or 10. If you were director or screenplay writer, what sort of difference would you make in the making of movie?

• This film is great in it self, I don't feel anything to change, but may be I will add the scene of Lulu because I don't think Pinter has written it purpiselessly. Other than that I don't think movie needs any further change.

• I would be choice this actor to play the role of characters.

1. Stanley : Ranveer 
2. Goldberg:- Ronit Roy
3. McCain:-Anupam Kher
4. Lulu:- vidhya Balan
5. Meg:- Jaya Bachchan
6. Petey:-Rishi Kapoor

11. Do you seen any similarities among Kafka's Joseph K (in 'The Triak'), Orwell's Winston Smith( in 'Nineteen Eighty-Four') and Pinter's Victor (in 'One for the Road')?

• Kafka's Joseph K, Orwell's Winston Smith and Pinter's Victor these all have one thing in common which is about their suffering. All of them are suffering from a crime or guilt Which they might not been committed also. They all suffer in common from dominance of society. Because of this social hegemonic culture, they trapped into it and was living a life as they were in the cage.

Thank you for watching or reading........