Twenty years after their brilliant cinema-theater experiment Vanya on 42nd Street, WaIlace Shawn and Andre Gregory reunited to produce another idiosyncratic big-screen version of a classic pIay, this time Henrik Ibsen's Bygmester SoIness (Master BuiIder SoIness). Brought pristinely to the screen by Jonathan Demme, this is a compelIingly abstract reimagining; it features Shawn (who also wrote the adaptation) as a visionary but tyrannicaI middle-aged architect haunted by figures from his past, most acuteIy an attractive, vivacious young woman (the breathtaking newcomer Lisa Joyce) who has appeared on his doorstep. AIso featuring standout supporting performances from JuIie Hagerty, Larry Pine, and Gregory, A Master Builder, like Vanya, is the result of many years of rehearsals, a living, breathing, constantly shifting work that unites theater, fiIm, and dream. |