Stanley (Robert Shaw) has taken refuge inside the parlour of a dingy seaside boarding house from some guilt/crime/treachery, in fact, something which is never named.
On his track come two equally unexplained agents of retribution: a fluent, ingratiating Jew named Goldberg (Sidny Tafler) and McCann, a silent, withdrawn Irishman (Patrick Magee).
Gradually, they accuse Stanley of obscure crimes, interrogate him, and finally break him down in a game of blindman’s buff during his birthday party – though Stanley insists throughout the movie that it isn’t his birthday.
Dandy Nichols’ hideous slattern, Meg, crowds the screen with a horrible, silly innocence.
Based on Harold Pinter’s first full-length stage play (Pinter wrote the screenplay himself and was heavily involved in casting), The Birthday Party has virtually no plot, just maddeningly circuitous dialogue which only serves to mystify.
Nothing is really explained, any clues thrown our way turn out to be misleading. We know something sinister and complex is happening, yet we remain locked out.
The movie is filmed like a play – the actors step out of frame, and the camera sluggishly follows them – although some of director William Friedkin’s tricks do heighten the tension in ways that a theatrical production cannot.
Stanley
Robert Shaw Shamus McCann
Patrick Magee Nat Goldberg
Sydney Tafler Meg
Dandy Nichols Petey
Moultrie Kelsall Lulu
Helen Fraser
Gradually, they accuse Stanley of obscure crimes, interrogate him, and finally break him down in a game of blindman’s buff during his birthday party – though Stanley insists throughout the movie that it isn’t his birthday.
Based on Harold Pinter’s first full-length stage play (Pinter wrote the screenplay himself and was heavily involved in casting), The Birthday Party has virtually no plot, just maddeningly circuitous dialogue which only serves to mystify.
The movie is filmed like a play – the actors step out of frame, and the camera sluggishly follows them – although some of director William Friedkin’s tricks do heighten the tension in ways that a theatrical production cannot.
