The birthday party Play by Harold Pinter

click here to view scenes from the movie, you can download the text and can attend the quiz also.

· Why are two scenes of Lulu omitted from the movie?
Two scenes of Lulu omitted from the movie. this movie is based on an unpublished screenplay by Harold Pinter, which he adapted from his own play The Birthday party. so we can say that he don't wanted to divert audience's attention from Stanley. may be he don't wanted to give unnecessary importance to Lulu's character. she came on,y when it was needed in last act.
Do you feel the effect of lurking danger while viewing the movie?Where you able to feel the same while reading the text


yes, movie is successful enough in giving s the effect of menace. i would say that movie gives more effect than text, because in text you have to read while in movie visual and sounds plays vital role in giving the effect pf menace. there is one line that


"silence speaks louder than words" but i would say that here in movie "sound speaks more than words". knocking on door, sound of drum, tearing of newspaper by McCain in second act these sounds make us feel uneasy.

Do you feel the effect of lurking danger while viewing the movie? Where you able to feel the same while reading the text
Yes, when Stanley plays drum very aggressively, knocking on door and in birthday party when blind man's buff is going on.
What do you read in 'newspaper' in the movie? Petey is reading newspaper to Meg, it torn into pieces by McCain, pieces are hidden by Petey in last scene.

newspaper have its own  significance in the play. Petey is reading newspaper which shows power or higher position in front of his wife Meg or it can be read like he is hiding his reality behind the newspaper. newspaper was torn away by McCain and Petey is hiding it's pieces which shows his fear about falling down his mask which he was hiding behind the newspaper he is hiding the reality of Stanley that he was also torn by two strangers

Camera is positioned over the head of McCain when he is playing Blind Man's Buff and is positioned at the top with a view of room like a cage (trap) when Stanley is playing it. What interpretations can you give to these positioning of camera?

Camera is positioned over the head of McCain when he is playing Blind Man's Buff and is positioned at the top with a view of room like a cage (trap) when Stanley is playing it, it shows that Stanley cannot escape from the trap of cage created by two stranger.

"Pinter restored theater to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of one another and pretense crumbles." (Pinter, Art, Truth & Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture). Does this happen in the movie?
Yes, people have the mercy of one another. Petey, Meg , and Lulu have mercy towards Stanley.
How does viewing movie help in better understanding of the play ‘The Birthday Party’ with its typical characteristics (like painteresque, pause, silence, menace, lurking danger)?
Yes, definitely movie help in better understanding of the play. visual and sounds played vital role in better understanding of pause, silence, menace and lurking danger.
With which of the following observations you agree:



o “It probably wasn't possible to make a satisfactory film of "The Birthday Party."


o “It's impossible to imagine a better film of Pinter's play than this sensitive, disturbing version directed by William Friedkin”[3].

I would agree with second observation.
If you were director or screenplay writer, what sort of difference would you make in the making of movie?
I won't make any difference.
Who would be your choice of actors to play the role of characters?
My choice of actors would be like this

Petey: Naseeruddin Shah
Meg: Farida Jalal
Nat Goldberg: Nawazuddin Siddiqui
McCain:K.K.Menon
Stanley: Rajkumar Rao
Lulu: Radhika Apte.


Thank you.