Customer Reviews

A Raisin in the Sun

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have seen this video more than ten times, and I have beenmoved to tears every single time. _A Raisin in the Sun_ is a greatplay, and this video gives you the closest possible experience to seeing the play performed live. A couple other reviewers ... found the acting dry and inferior. I'm dumbfounded by this reaction. Danny Glover and Esther Rolle are absolutely brilliant. By contrast, I found the 1961 version starring Sidney Poitier to be overly melodramatic in tone. When Poitier as Walter Lee breaks down, he raves like a lunatic. When Danny Glover breaks down, it's scary because he is so believable. As a college professor, I have shown this video to many classes and have always gotten good reactions. If you want to see a great production of one of the monuments of the American theater, I can't recommend this video highly enough.

I am a high school student who has read this play as an assignment in my english class. After we read the play, this movie was shown. Frankly, I thought the movie was fantastic. Everyone in my rambunctious class was silent because this movie was sssoooo good. While many say that Danny Glover is the best part of the movie, I think that the woman who plays Mama is far superior. She is exactly how I pictured Mama, with the right attitude to match. Although the movie is three hours long, it is worth seeing. This work is truly one of the best plays in period American literature.

This movie is almost 3 hours long and the only setting is inside one apartment. Amazingly, it is fantastic. It's like going to see a live play. The quality of the writing and the acting (especially Danny Glover) is enough to make the film supremely entertaining and uplifting.

After having seen the play live as presented by the West Side Players, I was under the impression that I wasn't going to see a production that could match that. I was very wrong. I have always been impressed with Danny Glover's work; everything from And the Children Shall Lead to his latest performance in Beloved (he and Oprah were completely shafted by white corporate Hollywood by not receiving Oscar nominations). His performance as Walter Lee Younger, however, is by far his best work up to this point. When Hansberry's play first appeared on Broadway, it was revolutionary, and was acclaimed as being more than a play; her words were more than just dialogue. It is a work steeped with human drama, and Glover brings this drama through to the audience in a most heart-wrenching manner. A must-see for any lover of film or the theater.

This production does an excellent job of bringing Lorraine Hansberry's play to life. Direction and performances are all on target. If you think you have seen A Raisin in the Sun because you've seen the Sidney Poitier movie, think again. There are nuances in this play that Danny Glover and Esther Rolle develop magnificently. All in all, it's a wonderful play and this is a wonderful production.

I thoroughly enjoyed this play which ran for almost three hours. It takes place in the early sixties. It tells the story of a black family, which receives a $10,000 insurance payment after the death of a family member. The Grandmother, her daughter, her son and his wife, and her grandson all live in the small apartment. There is conflict over what to do with the money. The son wants to invest it in a liquor store. The grandmother wants to buy her own home so the whole family can be more comfortable and she can at last have her own garden. The son becomes despondent after the grandmother buys a house. He starts drinking heavily and quits his job as a driver. His wife, who is two months pregnant, considers having an abortion. The sister, who is quite brilliant, struggles to get through medical school. She has to choose between two boyfriends: A Nigerian and a wealthy black American (who wears white shoes). She also explores her afrocentricity and tries to repel assimilation by wearing an Afro.

To bring her son out of the funk hes in, Mama gives him the remainder of the money leftover after the down payment on the house. She directs him to put half the money in the bank for his sister so that she would be able to pay for medical school and invest the rest of the money as he saw fit. (Who knew $10,000 could go that far. Talk about miracle money). Unfortunately, the son didnt do as he was told and was swindled out of all the money. This was not discovered until after the chairman of the welcoming committee, of the neighborhood they were supposed to be moving into, offers to pay the family not to move in. I must say that Danny Glover is one hell of an actor. It was really scary when he broke down and cried after he found out he was robbed. He decides to call the welcoming committee chairman to accept his offer to get some money back. He couldnt do it. Because of the pride instilled in him by his dead father, pressure from his mother, and the poor example he would be setting for his son, he backs out at the last minute.

I saw this play because the story was referenced in a monologue from Vin Diesels MultiFacial. Pride was just as important to Vins character. I am glad that I saw it. If it wasnt for Vin Diesel, I probably wouldnt have come to know this great story about an African American transitional experience. Thank you Vin!!

As an assignment for a college class, after reading the play, I had to watch the movie version of "A Raisin in the Sun." I was amazed at how well the movie script stuck to Hansberry's award winning version. The acting was superb, (particularly Glover and Rolle) and the three hours flew by quickly. I recommend this movie highly.

This is absolutely the best version of this play ever.....Not to take anything away from the Sidney P. version, but it had too many cuts and added scenes and lost alot of what Lorraine Hansberry was really saying...Danny Glover's Walter Lee is stellar and far more compelling that Sidney's...Its just and all around master piece

I will tell you this. Sidney Poitier's performance stands on it's own. He created the part for other's to build on, and build on Danny Glover did when he grabbed that hat and dropped to his knees. His sister (I don't have her name)was the perfect opposite to him especially when she called him a rat (lol). Glover is remarkable understated, and are all the players and the movie itself.

I will have to disagree with some of the earlier reviewers. I think there is a tendency to prefer more updated versions just because they're newer. Danny Glover's portrayal of Walter Lee is far too exaggerated. In his interpretation, the quiet rage of Walter Lee Younger is inflated to almost maniacal behavior which is distracting and over the top. Esther Rolle (Lena) and Starletta Dupois (Ruth) are both pretty good, but Kim Yancey sometimes overplays Beneatha. Although I know it's inevitable to do so, I think it's unfair to compare this version to the 1960 film, since we all know that production regulations of the time period dictated the accommodations that were made. Besides, the 1960 version is a feature film, and this version is really more of a filmed stage production, which makes them different animals entirely. When time allows, I show both versions to my classes. Some actually prefer the 1960 version, while others like this one better. Ultimately, I think each has merits of its own and should be judged individually.