Customer Reviews

Pacino: An Actor's Vision (Chinese Coffee / Looking for Richard / The Local Stigmatic)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

THIS IS BASICALLY A COLLECTION OF THREE FILMS DIRECTED
BY AL PACINO IN WHICH HE ALSO STARS:
THE FOLLOWING IS THE LIST OF THE 3 FILMS INCLUDED AND SOME
PLOT INFORMATION.
A COLLECTION OF PACINOS BEST FILMS? ABSOLUTELY NOT
JUST A COLLECTION OF FILMS HE HAS DIRECTED

4-DVD set includes bonus disc with featurettes and other special features.


Three films directed by and starring one of the most adventurous talents of the modern screen era. Includes The Local Stigmatic (1990, 56 mins.), a disturbing drama about a pair of working-class Brits who administer a senseless beating to a famous film star. The Chinese Coffee (2000, 99 mins.) stars Pacino and the late Jerry Orbach in a drama about a frustrated middle-aged writer who nervously uses his close friend as a sounding board. Finally, Looking for Richard (1996, 109 mins.) is a light-hearted documentary on the staging of Shakespeare's Richard III. The film captures rehearsals, backstage conversations, and more to offer an eye-opening view of the theatre.

Looking for Richard:

PLOT DESCRIPTION
A workshop of William Shakespeare's Richard III inspires actor-director Al Pacino's breezy documentary, which aims to make the playwright accessible to contemporary American audiences. Though a noteworthy cast of stage actors and Hollywood stars (including Kevin Spacey, Winona Ryder, and Alec Baldwin) gathers to work on the play, Looking for Richard does not present a straightforward filmed version of the scheming, deformed king's rise and fall. Instead, Pacino turns the cameras on the rehearsal process and his own exploration of Shakespeare's history and meaning. Scenes in full costume alternate with readings in street clothes, while interviews gather the opinions on the Bard of everyone from renowned scholars and Shakespearean actors to random New Yorkers. A trip to England allows brief visits to Shakespeare's birthplace and the Globe Theater, but Pacino's focus remains on the United States and his desire to prove that American actors can act the plays without mimicking their British counterparts. Clearly a labor of love for Pacino, the film benefits from his passionate persona and direct, no-nonsense attitude; while the performances may vary in quality, the film manifests a refreshingly casual, unpretentious, and enthusiastic approach to Shakespeare. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide


Chinese Coffee

PLOT DESCRIPTION
Al Pacino made a rare return to the stage in 1994 when he starred in a Broadway production of Ira Lewis's play Chinese Coffee. In this film adaptation of the drama, Pacino recreates his performance and also directs. Harry Levine (Pacino) is a writer in his early fifties who has published two novels, but never enjoyed enough literary success to leave his job as a doorman. Harry has just finished a third book, and is waiting for his close friend Jake Manheim (Jerry Orbach) to read the manuscript and give him his opinion. Harry is already edgy as he awaits Jake's verdict, since his longtime girlfriend, artist Joanna (Susan Floyd), has just called an end to their relationship. Jake, on the other hand, broke up with his wife Mavis (Ellen McElduff) when he decided to abandon his 30-year career as a photographer in pursuit of a (thus far unsuccessful) career as an actor. At first Jake tells Harry he hasn't yet read his new book, but in time he confesses that he has and that, from a literary standpoint, he thinks Harry simply doesn't have the talent to be a success; he also feels hurt and betrayed as a friend that Harry used sensitive moments from Jake's private life as plot points in his novel. Chinese Coffee was Al Pacino's second effort as a film director, following Looking for Richard, his semi-documentary look at staging William Shakespeare's Richard III. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide


THIS IS BASICALLY THE ONLY INFO I COULD FIND ABOUT THE LOCAL STIGMATIC:

The Local Stigmatic

The Local Stigmatic was a short film made by Al Pacino in the 1980s. It has never been released although the very few people alive who managed to see it one way or another have claimed it to be very good. Pacino's next directorial effort, Looking for Richard in 1996, would be released theatrically.

The Local Stigmatic based on a stageplay by Heathcote Williams

I was never a big Pacino fan until I stumbled on the documentary "Looking for Richard" in its limited theatrical release back in 1996. I'd read the play in school and it had affected me enough that I wanted another way to penetrate it, but doubted I'd ever really be able to, not without standing up to my English Major friends, some of whom are now teachers, and admitting "I don't entirely get this". So, walking alone past a small theater, seeing Al Pacino of all people on a poster in contemporary clothing, presuming to offer up a way into this material made me say "why not?"

Lo and behold, everything I'd felt about the story of King Richard, and all the doubts about penetrating Shakespeare's dramas turned out to be exactly what this movie is about. If you've had that same attraction to Shakespeare but always felt somewhat at arm's length, then perhaps you'll feel as I did upon seeing Looking for Richard: "Wow...Al Pacino made this movie for me." The opening sequence says it very clearly...Pacino approaches the footlights about to start the play and finds only one person in the audience, William Shakespeare, staring him down with a look that says "You??? You're gonna examine my play?" Pacino's self effacing reaction transfers directly to the viewer..."Yes, me. I'm gonna try. Why not me?"

After that, I was along for the ride as Pacino went to great lengths to visit seemingly dozens of actors, many well known and undoubtedly some of your favorites, to talk about their early and often uneasy first experiences with Shakespeare, and through their coming to terms with this one great play, acting out parts of it out informally, sometimes just out on the street with nothing but their common sense of purpose holding it together, Pacino and friends (along with the viewer) begin to get at the root of it in a powerful, personal way. The encounters with academics serve only to help understand the context of the play, a means to understand the complexities of the royal houses and politics, and, that done, are immediately sent to the rear of the class to make way for a more human approach, that of the actors. The music by Howard Shore along with the great pacing and editing brings about the end of this study all too soon, and it's become one of those movies I put on again and again, and I am caught up and moved by it each time. With this release I can now turn over my VHS copy to some of my actor friends and keep the DVD safely in my collection forever.

The box set is presented with interstitial conversations between Pacino and one of his Actor's Studio friends, and seems shot all at once for all of the films in this collection. Even so, it holds interest. The film Chinese Coffee with Jerry Orbach was surprisingly layered and very entertaining, deserving of its own review which someone else will have to write. The Local Stigmatic is a bit harder to absorb, but I've only viewed it once to date and it bears further viewing. Babbelonia is a long-form edition of the one-on-one conversations at the Actor's studio, and if you enjoy discussions like these about the actor's craft, you'll find it worthy. Had this release only been "Richard" I'd have rated it as highly and paid as much for it alone.

This set contains three works for Al Pacino that serve as an excellent insight into Al Pacino's art: Chinese Coffee, Looking Richard and Local Stigmatic. It is a proof how this man can be considered a real and superb artist. The commentary made by Al himself is a very usful one. I enjoyed it so much.

The fourth DVD is an inteview with Al. He talks about everything related to the art of acting, his background and his works.

If you love this living legend, you have to watch this set that tells you how great an artist he is.

I am very I own this set.

Looking for Richard is worth the price of the whole set. If you're interested in the process and craft of acting or directing or are just interested in what it means to be a worker in the creative arts, this is a fascinating set.

I must say that I have been following the career of Al Pacino since I was in college back in 2000 and I gotta say that this box set is simply amazing. I had got this as a birthday present from my wife which was really cool because with this addition my Al Pacino collection is nearly complete minus abought 3-4 titles remaining. For almost three decades Pacino has brought us some of the most passionate,rememorble roles with his unique style of acting and while really getting up there in age nowdays he can still bring down the house!
If I were to say honestly which of the three dvds did I llike the most in this box set I'd have to say Chinese Coffee was my favorite. I'm not gonna give anything away because the way I am with my Pacino movies is basically if I've never seen them before its okay because if he's in it then I know its gotta be good, simple as that. My other favorite was Looking for Richard which is in this box set as well. This movie is very hard to come by and for the longest was only available on VHS. I remember seeing this in high school in my Shakesphere class and man I was so mesmerized then just as I am now. A great all star cast and a great documentary that not only shows Pacino's passion for acting,but also his love for the King Richard the third play as well. Local Stigmatic which is the last one in the boxset well...My and my wife just didn't get this movie. That doesn't mean its a bad thing or a good thing, we just didn't get this movie. It'll probably take me a while to really understand this movie but overall this is really a great buy if you are a die hard Al Pacino fan so check it out especially since nowdays you can get it for a deal.

Watching the 2000 film, Chinese Coffee, starring and directed by Al Pacino, I smiled because, yet again a film proved to me the utter primacy of the written word over the moving image, even in an art form that would not exist without pictures. The film is based upon a play written by Ira Lewis, who did the screenplay as well, and, given the superb and realistic dialogue uttered by the two main characters, Harry Levine (Pacino) and Jake Manheim (Jerry Orbach), the play seems likely to be a great one.
Yet, the filmic aspects of the movie are almost nil. Pacino's direction is not awful, merely bad. In so many ways this film would have been much better had it followed the My Dinner With Andre route. Proof? I can still visualize the scene in the Louis Malle film where Andre tells Wally about being buried alive in the Polish woods. So what? Well, the scene was never filmed, merely described to the viewer via the words of Andre Gregory to Wallace Shawn. Now, contrast that with the numerous pointless camera angles and even pointless flashbacks that add nothing to this film, and the difference is clear. Even worse is the sometimes frenetic use of cuts that Pacino employs whenever Harry and Jake speak. We do not need to see close-ups for every syllable. Long shots that captured their whole body, and even shots from behind, where tone and inflection could take primacy, would have been a welcome addition. Pacino should have relied more on cinematographer Frank Prinzi's experience to dictate how the scenes would be filmed. The film's score, by Elmer Bernstein, is adequate- not too distracting nor too telegraphic. The low budget film also fails when it tries to show, in flashbacks, the younger pair of men, with Pacino sporting a bad wig and Orbach's hair atrociously dyed. The scenes where Pacino's Harry is supposed to be only 42 fail, as Pacino, then 60, is just far too old and dissipated- wig notwithstanding, to pull off the eighteen year old age difference convincingly....Chinese Coffee is proof that art house films need not be about effete individuals, for Harry and Jake are, if nothing else, vibrant and opinionated men who have simply outlived their utility in the world; or so it seems. This is clearly true for Jake, but whether or not it is for Harry is the crux of the film. Would that more films were based upon works that proved themselves literarily, with realistically drawn characters, rather than works based upon video games, and American cinema might hearken back to its Golden Age in the 1970s, the period that saw the rise of Al Pacino and his generation of actors. Circularity can be a good thing, no?

I purchased this four CD set because I wanted the "Richard" CD. I would have paid the price for that CD alone. I was very pleased with Chinese Coffee and Local Stigmaic, which I have not seen or read. I am very happy to add them to my collection.
I would not have included the interview of Pacino in my small CD collection but would have watched it on cable. However, I do not have cable so it was a treat.
I highly recommend this to anyone who values stage productions and the actor's craft.

I bought it for a friend as a present. He enjoyed it. The only problem with it is that the DVDs are formatted for Region 1 and can only be watched in the US. My friend had to reset his laptop's DVD player and he can't really watch it on the TV screen.

A must have collection for any real 'Pacino' fan. You can't help but love the guy even more as you watch him in Babbleonia, and you see the work he put into these special projects of his. Very Satisfied!

This is an essential set of films for not only fans of Al Pacino but film buffs as well. From his disturbing performance in The Local Stigmatic, to his fantastic turn as a struggling writter in Chinese Coffee to the wonderful docudrama Looking For Richard and even just his short discussions before and after each film and in Babbleonia we get a rare glimpse of Al Pacino as well as some fantastic performances that have not been seen until this sets release.