The Homecoming (1973)

Director:

Peter Hall

Writers:

Harold Pinter (play)
Harold Pinter (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The share the house. They share the food. They share Teddy's wife. Such a nice happy family.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cyril Cusack	...	Sam, brother of Max
Ian Holm	...	Lenny
Michael Jayston	...	Teddy
Vivien Merchant	...	Ruth
Terence Rigby	...	Joey
Paul Rogers	...	Max, father of Lenny, Teddy, and Joey
Jonathan Sachar	...	Brian

Also Known As:

Harold Pinter's The Homecoming (Australia) (DVD box title) (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | USA:PG

Company:

Cinévision Ltée

Quotes:

Lenny: What did you say?
Max, father of Lenny, Teddy, and Joey: I said shove off out of it, that's what I said.
Lenny: You'll go before me, Dad, if you talk to me in that tone of voice.
Max, father of Lenny, Teddy, and Joey: Will I, you bitch?
Lenny: Oh, Daddy, you're not going to use your stick on me, are you? Eh? Don't use your stick on me, Daddy. No, please. It wasn't my fault, it was one of the others. I haven't done anything wrong, Dad, honest. Don't clout me with that stick, Dad.

My Mind Parasites must be dead.

Colin Wilson wrote of Mind Parasites that make people think things are wonderful when they are just dreadful tripe. The protagonists of his story manage to kill their Mind Parasites and are appalled to find out what a load of crap is being fobbed off on the world as high culture and intellectual experience. I don't mean this as a slight upon anyone who appreciates or finds interest and enjoyment in this film, I just can't see how it is possible to do so. And I really tried. I just ended up feeling confused and stupid.

I felt like I got the "joke" of this film in the first five minutes and then had to sit through nearly two hours of dreary repetition. Awful people babble at each other like brain damaged degenerates. This one is pointlessly vicious, that one tells aimless cruel anecdotes, and they all just behave irrationally at regular intervals, over and over. Ultimately it doesn't matter what happens because it's a roomful of lunatics being their own version of normal. The worst thing is I believe there really must be something there I am incapable of seeing, that I am missing something genuine that others see and I don't. I really tried to understand it, and asked my wife to explain it to me afterward. I am absolutely baffled by the fact that so many people can see so much depth in this thing when it seems to me to be so obviously, transparently, pointless irrationality for its own sake, that goes nowhere and has no reason to exist. I can't imagine writing such a thing and thinking I had done a good job, or reading such a thing and thinking it ought to be produced, or being able to act in such a thing without saying, "What on earth is this supposed to be about, and who would ever even sit through it?" It was only a few days ago that I came up with this dictum: Speak nonsense with a straight face if you wish to be thought profound. It is my opinion that The Homecoming is an example of this principle in action. I envy anyone who is able to watch this without feeling robbed of two hours of their lives.