Working with Pinter

Synopsis

Harry Burton’s 2007 film WORKING WITH PINTER is a unique documentary about a unique writer. Achieving unprecedented access to Harold Pinter working with actors, the film captures his collaborative spirit and offers a remarkable insight into his writing.

Participating in a masterclass in 2005, the playwright contributes to the rehearsal of extracts from his own plays offering unprecedented insight into his creative processes. Complementing this revealing footage is an interview with Harold Pinter speaking with his friend and theatrical ally Henry Woolf, as well as liberal quotations from film and television productions of his plays.

For nearly fifty years until his death in December 2008, Harold Pinter was at the centre of British and international theatre. It is difficult to over-estimate the impact of his writing. His contribution to British film is also fundamental, including scripts for the The Servant, The Go Between and the The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

Harold Pinter was known too as a vociferous and uncompromising political activist. In late 2005 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and his acceptance speech is an excoriating attack on the foreign policy of a "brutal, ruthless and scornful" United States.

Accompanying Working with Pinter on this DVD is an in-depth filmed interview with the playwright, including previously unseen material, that explores his views on acting, on directing and on writing. Together, the two films express the essence of Harold Pinter as a supremely human writer, actor, political activist and intellectual.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2010

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

acting; Nobel Prize winners; Pinter, Harold; playwrights; political issues; Stage directing; Rehearsals; Directing; theatre-British

Credits

Director

Harry Burton

Contributor

Harold Pinter

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 1 NTSC

Price

£17.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

106 minutes

Year

2011

Distributor

Name

Illuminations

Email

louise@illuminationsmedia.co.uk

Web

http://www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7288 8400

Address

Studio 121, ScreenWorks
22 Highbury Grove
London
N5 2EF

Notes

Illuminations produces and distributes programmes on arts-related subjects, some of which are made for television and others in conjunction with cultural institutions to accompany specific exhibitions. Many titles are available for sale on DVD, including continuing series on leading contemporary and twentieth century artists and modern architecture, as well as a few programmes on religion, drama, history and ideas.