Customer Reviews

The Plague [VHS]

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

 

 

No adaptation of any great novel will be as good as the book, and there will be big changes, for a variety of reasons, BUT...

This movie, first of all, should not be compared to the book. Watch it as if Camus had never written his story. (But definitely read the book too) Hurt does a great job and Raul Julia is terrifying. The way the priest dies is an interesting departure from the book (he descends into hades!). The death of the poor choir boy in the movie is terribly moving and heart-wrenching (and brings to mind Ivan Karamazov's anger at an unjust God). I was happy to find this-- I always knew this book would make an interesting film adaptation.

The Plague paints a haunting picture of an outbreak in a South American city, with the fallout affecting characters across the spectrum of life. Although nowhere near a perfect adaptation of Camus' masterpiece, it has an energy of its own, with a good international cast and a haunting soundtrack. Those expecting a slavish adaptation of the book will be disappointed. Those interested in a flim-maker's interpretation, with a late-Twentieth Century update, will be rewarded.

Others compare this movie to one of the 5 best literary works of the past century. To them it looks weak. In that context they are right.

In itself, this movie still asks "the" questions of the century --the ones we have chosen to forget. If you are not utterly dead to the savage indifference of life, this "just ok" movie of a classic book will move you.

Don't even think of watching this without first reading the book. And if you have read the book don't put yourself through this mockery of one of the most outstanding novels ever. This movie takes from one of the greatest works ever crafted by man and somehow screws it all up. It takes way too many liberties with the story and replaces almost all of the themes and metaphors with simplistic and uninspired doppelgangers. Although the book was exemplary this movie only take from it slightly. The screen writers probably didn't even read the book. The themes are inane. The dialogue is downright horrible(except when taken from Camus exactly). The Actors while well meaning do not hit the mark with their characters. And serious flaws in the story line are plentiful like weeds. Also plentiful is female nudity, but its not erotic or even meaningful it's just obnoxious and quite frankly sickening.

Unless you want to see a version of the Plague that puts Oran in South America in 199..., changes the Cambert character to a woman who finger herself in a cafe while checking for Buboes, changes Tarrou and Grand into giggling novelties, and replaces the enlightening separation theme from the second part of the novel and changes it so that the characters and merely horny, than this is for you.

This "Plague" is an insult and owners of the rights to Camus' works should be shot for letting this mockery manifest itself. Don't bother with this awful movie. Bullets are cheaper and provide the same feeling when put into heart.

The Plague By Albert Camus = *****************!!

The Plague By a troop of literary rapists = object so incredibly bad that you would be embarrassed to level your couch with it.

Read The Book!!!

It's apparently impossible to give no stars with a review. So now the makers of this film owe me one.

I enjoyed the book, so I thought I'd give the movie a chance when it came to cable. Would Hollywood be able to give a sympatheic rendering of the philosophical novel? They tried, but they just couldn't cut it. I can live with the change of era and continent, but the Hollywood actors they brought in just weren't what I envisioned for the roles. Especially Hurt as Reiux. The story--and its ideas--really do require the internal monologue of the novel's narrator. The actors just couldn't bring Camus' ideas to life. Without being able to do that, the whole thing seemed dreary and pointless. I think another, non-Hollywood cast and production team could have done better.

This is a wretched adaptation of Albert Camus' brilliant novel. The original subject matter, dealing with the strength of the spirit of man, among other themes, is grossly preverted and rendered unrecognizable. Characters have been altered and added, and no actor gives anything remotely resembling a good performance. Hurt, a miserable disappointment, destroys the role of Dr. Rieux. I cannot express how disgusted I was upon viewing this movie; I have read the novel many times and adore it and, in what I now acknowledge was a ridiculous mistake, once rented the movie and watched it (and "watch" would cover it, since no mental action is required or stimulated), hoping for a visual treat. I still regret it. PLEASE spare yourself and DO NOT watch this movie.

Instead, treat yourself to reading the wonderful, five-plus star, brilliant (to repeat the best adjective for it) novel.

This is not a video for anyone who wants to be entertained. However if you like films that are truthful and have the courage to explore what is bleakest about life then buy this video. It is beautifully crafted and acted and extremely moving as it delineates the tiny ways in which humans can reach out to each other, even in times of unbearable misery.

THE PLAGUE, as in her other 30+ films, is a showcase for the talent and depth of Sandrine Bonnaire. In Camus' novel the character Raymond Rambert (journalist) is portrayed on screen by Sandrine Bonnaire as Martine Rambert (tv journalist). Camus' existential questions are therefore answered from the feminine point of view, which, in itself, is revolutionary though this fact went unnoticed in reviews. Mlle. Bonniare is the center of the film as in her whole career, she has gone from strength to strength and is posiblecy the world's greatest actress.

Contrary to what my fellow critics have written, I think that this was a wonderful adaption of the book. I adore Camus and anything he wrote. Yes, this movie is not exactly like the book, but what movie has ever been exactly like the book it is adapted from. This adaption opens the mind more to what the book is trying to put across. The Plague is about WAR...not the actually bubonic plague. The story line follows the events in Oran, Algeria when the city is affected by the bubonic plague. But it is about WAR none the less. The movie portrsys it subtley, like the book does. Cottard, played by the wonderful late Raul Julia, sums it up best with his line, '"It will always come back.

I agree with others that this movie does a poor job of translating the novel onto the screen. The characters' motivations are muddy at best, and unbelievable at worst. I believe the major problem is that the book deals with man's interior struggle, which simply cannot be shown on a screen. The presence of Jean-Marc Barr makes this movie worth seeing none the less.