Product Details

• Actors: Oscar Wilde, Myriam Cyr plays Salome
• Directors: Steven Berkoff
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: June 29, 2004
• Run Time: 150 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00023BN5Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,594 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

SALOME - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An angel's breath short of perfection, November 21, 2006

By 

Theodore Voelkel (Winchester, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oscar Wilde's Salome / Steven Berkoff (DVD)

You have to accept Steven Berkoff's premise at the start, namely to sweep Oscar Wilde's prescribed Victoriana off the stage and let his opulent prose stand on its own. It's not the ONLY way to do Salome, but it is an enthralling one, and the job is carried off to near perfection. The use of piano music (by Roger Doyle) is inspired, thickening the pantomimic stage action with extra dimension, and creating a genre somewhere between cinema and opera. And Myriam Cyr is simply the SEXIEST Salome ever acted -- another positive fallout of a spare abstract stage: her sexuality flashes out sharp as a laser. By an irony of ironies, however, the biggest acting disappointment is Steven Berkoff himself, the directorial genius behind the production, who plays Herod. He speaks his lines with a cutesy-wootseyness that attempts to spotlight Herod's effeteness, but in doing so he lurches instead, and annoyingly, into high-school slapstick. Far from titillating, these Herodic histrionics are the dullest, draggiest moments of the production. Everything Berkoff says in his Special Features interview about his rationale for the face paint, the spare staging, the absence of props, the "Kabuki look," rings true and is eloquently borne out in action -- save for his own jokey-baroquey performance as Herod, which runs afoul of his own canons of spareness. But a bigger caveat is that THIS DVD SHOULD HAVE COME WITH AN ENGLISH SUBTITLE TRACK. Wilde's intricate script, the boomy miking (no clip-on mikes), a big echoey stage, and several mushy choral passages all make for moments of blurred text. English subtitles would have given clarity at a click. Shame on Kultur, the otherwise excellent production company which brought out this DVD, for shirking this small extra expense.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! A Fantastic Salome!, January 15, 2005

By 

J P Falcon (Fords, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oscar Wilde's Salome / Steven Berkoff (DVD)

This is a gem that needs to be discovered by a wider audience, as Oscar Wilde's SALOME has finally appeared on DVD...Prior to this, you had to rely on the silent film SALOME and the great Richard Strauss opera, but now you can savor the language of Wilde's play as it was intended...Steven Berkoff directed a performance that shuns the trappings of props and sets and allows the actors to mime the action when needed. Initially, I was concerned about this approach, but I was soon swept away by the strong performances of the ensemble cast...Stephen Berkoff plays Herod, and though there are moments where he borders on high camp, he provides a riveting performance of the lust filled King...Mark Lewis delivers John the Baptists words powerfully, and I could not help but notice the similarity of his delivery and that of Michael York's great portrayal of the Baptist in Jesus of Nazareth....Carmen Du Sautoy is an effective Herodias, and praise must be given to Myriam Cyr who captures the conflicted and tortured soul of Salome brilliantly. The intensity of her performance will keep your attention throughout....Regarding Berkoff's direction, one might become initially put off by the slow motion pace of the play, but it was Berkoff's desire to frame every word in order to emphasize Wilde's greatness. You will soon discover that the pace and clarity of the spoken words only heighten the drama, and the pace quickens as one delves deeper into the play...You will undoubtedly find this a remarkable experience which only seeing SALOME live could offer as serious competition, and it should be noted that these are indeed wonderous times when one can enjoy such works as Oscar Wilde's SALOME in the comfort of our homes....Enthusiastically recommended!

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Berkoff's monumental disappointment., April 3, 2006

By 

I'm Nobody! Who are you? RU Nobody 2? (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oscar Wilde's Salome / Steven Berkoff (DVD)

In his interview on the DVD, Steven Berkoff states that he directed this play as a memorial to Oscar Wilde. This is not Oscar Wilde as we think of him. Wilde was lavish and ostentatious. Wilde was sublime in his wit. Berkoff presented a monument to himself only. As Berkoff states, he stripped away all of the props and scenery, the very essence that make Wilde what Wilde is. In truth, Berkoff achieved a monument to "the actor" as supreme being, not a memorial to the author and the intent of the author for this play. Instead of displaying wit, instead of presenting the author's words as intended, instead of presenting the multilayered tragedy of Oscar Wilde's Salome, Berkoff turned a tragedy into comedy. Berkoff's insistance on slow motion movement and slow motion dialog buried any resemblence to Oscar Wilde. It is a farce, a cross between mime and Kabuki that falls flat on its white face in the middle of an empty stage.
Instead of this disgrace to the name of Oscar Wilde, I would recommend that you read Oscar Wilde's play. Or better still, get one of the marvelously done productions of Strauss' opera based on the play. The opera remains close to Wilde's text and is accompanied by superb music. And for culture's sake, stretch yourself with the versions in German.
Sadly, when the only cheese available in the grocery store is Velveeta, all you can do is make macaroni and cheese. Berkoff serves up great macaroni and cheese, but I miss the subtleties to which we are now accustomed in our markets.
While Berkoff's performance is sickening, the female leads eventually abandon his influence enough to salvage reasonable performances. Salome's dance is suitably seductive, and her mad scene becomes believable.
As for Jokanaan, a pilar of salt would be more expressive and more flavorful. He reached right down to the bottom of his soul, and there was nothing but a man in a pit yelling.