The Birthday Party
1968 · TMDB 6.5
Directed by William Friedkin
Based on Harold Pinter's enigmatic play about a boarder in a British seaside dwelling who is visited by two strangers. They torment him verbally, ask him idiotic unanswerable questions, force him to sit down and stand up, and give him a "party". Then, eventually, they take him away, a tongue-tied idiot. The trivial becomes the terrible, and with it a certain wonder, a certain pity.
Why it matters
Harold Pinter's own adaptation of his play, a sinister comedy about a lodger whose past catches up with him, starring Robert Shaw and Patrick Magee.
- Runtime
- 123 min
- Released
- 1968-12-09
- Studio
- Palomar Pictures International
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- TMDB score
- 6.5
KinoChain appearances
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Where this title sits in a journey — and where cinema takes you next.
Connected films
Where this film leads
Linked through chains, directors and neighbouring cinema.
Glengarry Glen Ross
Previous in chain · The Stage on Screen: A Theatrical Journey
The Father
Next in chain · The Stage on Screen: A Theatrical Journey
In Bruges
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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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Henry V
Also in “The Stage on Screen: A Theatrical Journey”
12 Angry Men
Also in “The Stage on Screen: A Theatrical Journey”
The Exorcist
Same director
Rules of Engagement
Same director
Sorcerer
Same director
The French Connection
Same director
People
