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IMDbPro

The Homecoming

  • 19731973
  • PGPG
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
803
YOUR RATING
The Homecoming (1973)
In a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence, and introduces the four men, father, uncle, and two brothers, to his wife.
Play trailer2:36
1 Video
11 Photos
Drama
In a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence, and introduces the four men, father, uncle, an... Read allIn a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence, and introduces the four men, father, uncle, and two brothers, to his wife.In a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence, and introduces the four men, father, uncle, and two brothers, to his wife.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
803
YOUR RATING
    • Peter Hall
    • Harold Pinter(play)
  • Stars
    • Cyril Cusack
    • Ian Holm
    • Paul Rogers
    • Peter Hall
    • Harold Pinter(play)
  • Stars
    • Cyril Cusack
    • Ian Holm
    • Paul Rogers
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 17User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:36
    Watch Trailer

    Photos11

    The Homecoming (1973)
    The Homecoming (1973)
    Three Sisters (1970)
    The Homecoming (1973)
    Cyril Cusack, Vivien Merchant, and Paul Rogers in The Homecoming (1973)
    Paul Rogers in The Homecoming (1973)
    Paul Rogers in The Homecoming (1973)
    Ian Holm and Paul Rogers in The Homecoming (1973)
    Ian Holm, Cyril Cusack, Michael Jayston, Vivien Merchant, Terence Rigby, and Paul Rogers in The Homecoming (1973)
    Cyril Cusack and Paul Rogers in The Homecoming (1973)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Cyril Cusack
    Cyril Cusack
    • Sam
    Ian Holm
    Ian Holm
    • Lenny
    Paul Rogers
    Paul Rogers
    • Max
    Terence Rigby
    Terence Rigby
    • Joey
    Michael Jayston
    Michael Jayston
    • Teddy
    Vivien Merchant
    Vivien Merchant
    • Ruth
      • Peter Hall
      • Harold Pinter(play) (screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sir Ian Holm won the 1967 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Featured Actor in a Drama for "The Homecoming" as Lenny. He reprised the role in this movie.
    • Quotes

      Max: Mind you, she wasn't such a bad woman. Even though it made me sick just to look at her rotten stinking face, she wasn't such a bad bitch. I gave her the best bleeding years of my life, anyway.

      Lenny: Plug it, will you, you stupid sod, I'm trying to read the paper.

      Max: Listen! I'll chop your spine off, you talk to me like that! You understand? Talking to your lousy filthy father like that!

      Lenny: You know what, you're getting demented.

    • Connections
      Referenced in Jake's Progress (1995)

    User reviews17

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Beautifully Bleak
    'The Homecoming' is perhaps Pinter's greatest play. It still seems as impenetrable and unfathomably disturbing as when first performed. As if Pinter had managed to haul it straight up from the murky waters of his subconscious without allowing it to be filtered through the clarifying, taming grilles of symmetry and craft.

    A few of the other commentators have questioned whether it works as a piece of 'cinema'. But with writing and acting this vital and rich the query becomes redundant. It's a filmed record of a stage play in which color and framing are used to provide texture and ambiance for the text. The absence of any unnecessary cinematic flourishes contributes to the stark, claustrophobic atmosphere.

    I would argue that the piece is more effective here, atmospherically speaking at least, than it ever could be on stage. The screen filling close-ups, slow fades to black, and subtle, almost imperceptible camera movement all add the palpable sense of entrapment, tension and menace.

    The performances are all majestic. But my favourite is the astonishing one given by the wonderful Vivien Merchant. Her work in this and Sidney Lumet's 'The Offence' (in the same year) stand, for me, as being amongst the greatest performances given on screen by any actor. Ever. She can switch from poignantly lost and alone, to ironic, to chillingly manipulative with a glance. Whilst always radiating an almost heartbreaking aura of emotional privation and defeat. Her premature death was a genuine tragedy.

    Am I alone in finding such a spare, bleak work so strangely comforting, even uplifting? I hope not.
    helpful•24
    4
    • LewisJForce
    • Mar 8, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 16, 1977 (France)
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Hackney, London, Greater London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Cinévision Ltée
      • The American Film Theatre
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 51 minutes
      • Mono

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