The Homecoming DVD

The American Film Theatre Collection is an exceptional series of feature films based on some of the most celebrated plays of the 20th Century. Brainchild of Hollywood producer Ely Landau, the aim was to combine the excitement of live theatre with the accessibility and visual possibilities of film.

Featuring towering performances, outstanding direction and exceptional writing, this collection is a superb archive of contemporary drama masterfully transferred to the silver screen and largely unseen for 30 years.

The Homecoming is a superlative piece of 20th Century drama translated to film with great skill. This disturbing film has all of the brilliance, wit and blistering dialogue you would expect from Harold Pinter.

Run by Max (Paul Rogers) and his brother Sam (Cyril Cusack), a sinister, bare violently male house in North London is where Pinter's dark vision of familial cruelty and power games unfolds. When Teddy (Michael Jayston) brings his wife Ruth (Vivien Merchant) home to meet his family for the first time, murky secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened. Ian Holm (Lord of the Rings, The Sweet Hereafter) gives one of the finest performances of his career as vicious thug Lenny.

The screenplay differs little from the original play, but Sir Peter Hall uses the camera to create unique imagery and symbolism based on his original Royal Shakespeare Company stage triumph. Malevolent, chilling and with the blackest of humour, The Homecoming is one of the lost gems of 70's cinema, and one of the most important pieces of drama from the last fifty years.

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