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
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: June 29, 2004
• Run Time: 150 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00023BN5Q
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #92,575 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A drama-poem, Salome was written by Oscar Wilde mostly in 1891 stirred by his attraction to Lord Alfred Douglas. Taken from the New Testament tale, Herod is so infatuated with his step-daughter Salome that he promises her on oath up to half his kingdom in return for a favor; a libidinous dance. The favor she demands is the head of John the Baptist on a plate. The play moves to Herod's battle to break his oath and Salome's unforgettable scene with the Baptist's head. This program also includes a special interview with director Steven Berkoff discussing his interpretation of the play.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 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)

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.

17 of 19 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 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!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slightly flawed but compelling, November 7, 2007

By	John Salonia Jr. (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

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Visually, this is a stunning production. Steven Berkoff has staged the play along impressionistic lines that are at once compelling yet slightly off-putting. I understand his reasoning for the slow-motion movements of the cast (given in a telling bonus interview), yet the end result is sometimes risible, and contributes to a glacially slow rendition. In fact, not to mince words, this slow-motion approach gives a ridiculous look to the play.

Also, giving the characters a kind of timeless 1920's style of costuming is a bit off-putting too. People in Edwardian garb spouting florid King James-style dialogue tend to look just a tad silly. It is a tribute to Wilde's play that it is compelling even in this rendition.

Also on the minus side is Berkoff's unfortunately comic portrayal of Herod. He correctly chooses to emphasize the character's childish greed, but he does so in a way that sometimes borders on the burlesque. He directs the rest of the cast splendidly, yet fails to reign in his own over-the-top performance. Berkoff too often spits out his lines in a flat hurry, breaking them up with expectant looks directly at the audience, wearing an "Ain't-I-just-too-cute-for-words?" grin on his face. Obviously, he's waiting for the audience to respond to him -- but in a heavily self-conscious manner that breaks the flow of the piece. Berkoff makes a point in his interview of stating that he wanted to preserve Wilde's text intact (a laudable goal), yet rants so much that some of his dialogue becomes sound effects instead of words. This is not to say that he is completely ineffective: however, his spoiled-child approach (and his "C'mon, applaud already" glances at the audience) raises chuckles from the theater audience at moments when a grim silence should have been evoked.

On the plus side is a marvelous stage setting, a wonderful cast (especially Cyr, who is riveting as Salome), and a lighting design that is amost unbelievably well executed. The lighting transitions between Herod's terrace and Jokanaan's pit are cinematic in their sharp effectiveness.

Another wonderful feature is that the video camera captures Cyr's subtle shift of facial expressions, which probably werte largely lost on theatergoers. Here they're preserved in a flawless performance.

All in all, this should not be missed. Despite its flaws , it is a good rendition of Wilde's most difficult play.