Collectibles & Merchandise on TVcrazy.net

Rating: - Opposites attract
Translation of a play to the screen is sometimes problematic because stylized action is accepted on the stage as an abstraction of larger movement, but when this same stylized action remains in the film, the work takes on a surrealism that may interfere with the intention of the film-makers. The same criticism applied to dialogue that is acceptable on the stage despite over-dramatization, but in a film it appears as over-acting and can be distracting. This movie is based on a very successful stage production but the translation to film was somewhat awkward.

Christopher Plummer does an excellent job as the Inca King Atahuallpa, appearing trim, slim, dark, and athletic. His slender tall frame is that of a ballet dancer and thus is perfect for the other-worldly Athahuallpa. Robert Shaw is at his best as Pizzaro. He is a bundle of masculine enterprise, an agent for state and church and self. These two figures are meant for each other, or at least Athahuallpa was meant for Pizzaro to awaken hidden doubts and unquestioned concepts and repressed emotions - of course Athahuallpa is destroyed in the process. Shaw and Plummer bring a slight bit of homoeroticism to the play, actually strengthening its many layers of meaning. The film reveals that 17th century Spanish Catholic explorers were exploitive and the implication is that the church and the state play a major role in this exploitation. The screenplay is vivid and intellectually challenging.

The film quality is a bit poor with jumpy editing that even cuts dialogue short. This was distracting since the dialogue was strong.

Television Show Collectibles

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