Play for Today: Abigail's Party (1977)'s comments

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

jlfitz

also here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_MZ1WKGO9U

7 years 8 months ago

MMDan

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v75796840jk4Z79rG

7 years 11 months ago

jrod944

one of the more repulsive characters ever. terrific film

12 years 11 months ago

Unlike Leigh's previous Plays for Today, Abigail's Party actually started out as a stage play, a successful one, and was recorded for television abridged and with replacement music the BBC could afford. And it LOOKS like a play, with an open fourth wall, a sitcom kind of look, and likely shot with very few cuts. In Leigh's canon, it looks strange. Also strange, at first, is that Leigh regular Alison Steadman's character is called Beverly and she's the one throwing the party. We'll come to realize that Abigail is the daughter of one of the guests, an unseen teenager throwing her own do, and the catalyst for the cringe-inducing malaise that sets in at the adults' little get-together, inspiring conversation and the poor mother's anxiety. Leigh's comic characters often come off as a little extreme, but I think it's often because they are "playing" for others. Their particular collection quirks is a facade they have clumsily built as an interface with others. There's something to this in Steadman's performance, and in Janine Duvitski's thoughtless Angela. The general facade keeps us from knowing the involved backstories developed by the actors in rehearsal, which is an innate irony of this little "getting to know you" gathering between neighbors. The cringe is funny - Tony's mono-syllabic answers, Sue squirming in her seat - but it's all heading for an explosion, kind of like a middle-class Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof?, though not necessarily on that level. The idea is more of an examination of new middle class ambitions falling short.

1 year 3 months ago