Fine adaptation of Beckett's greatest play.

Atom Egoyan and Arsinée Khanjian in Calendar (1993)

Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon in Devil's Knot (2013)

Bord Scannán na hÉireann / The Irish Film Board

John Hurt

Samuel Beckett

An old man listens to a tape of himself as a thirty-nine-year-old.

Atom Egoyan

Krapp&apos;s Last Tape

A very serviceable version.

I fail to see why this production averages 5.5 from IMDB users; it&apos;s really a very competent and effective version of possibly my favourite Beckett play. It is not showy, it lacks risk-taking, but frankly playing safe with the superb material is a worthwhile furrow to plough.

Hurt is magnificent as Krapp, etching this rendition into the memory like &apos;crysallite&apos;. He is buffoonish and a great clown, as well as finding the requisite notes of bleak sadness. Egoyan basically presents the performance as close to how it would appear on stage; we are only given subtle uses of the medium - some closer in shots, executed with gradual, tactful camera movements. 

I don&apos;t think I really need to expound upon the reasons behind this play&apos;s sublimity; needless to say, this is a very effective, none too radical version that presents it very amenably. Very well recommended; especially for those who are not at all familiar with the play; this will be a shatteringly moving revelation. As it was for me when I first saw this in the theatre 18 months or so ago.

Rating:- **** 1/2/*****

I fail to see why this production averages 5.5 from IMDB users; it's really a very competent and effective version of possibly my favourite Beckett play. It is not showy, it lacks risk-taking, but frankly playing safe with the superb material is a worthwhile furrow to plough.

Hurt is magnificent as Krapp, etching this rendition into the memory like 'crysallite'. He is buffoonish and a great clown, as well as finding the requisite notes of bleak sadness. Egoyan basically presents the performance as close to how it would appear on stage; we are only given subtle uses of the medium - some closer in shots, executed with gradual, tactful camera movements. 

I don't think I really need to expound upon the reasons behind this play's sublimity; needless to say, this is a very effective, none too radical version that presents it very amenably. Very well recommended; especially for those who are not at all familiar with the play; this will be a shatteringly moving revelation. As it was for me when I first saw this in the theatre 18 months or so ago.

Rating:- **** 1/2/*****

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