The Homecoming
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“I often find myself seeking solace from this film. Its poetry and twisted sense of compassion and humour have assuaged many moments of despair and confusion. Other people have religion, I have my copy of The Homecoming.”
In North London, an all-male beehive of inactivity is ruled with a foul mouth and an iron hand by the abusive Max and his brother Sam. Rounding out the precision vulgarity of The Homecoming's "situation tragedy" are the sons, punch-drunk demolition man Joey and pimp-smart Lenny. When, under cover of darkness, the prodigal son Teddy brings his wife Ruth home to meet his family for the first time, he gets far more and less than he bargained for. To Teddy's rueful discomfort, Ruth's Mona Lisa smile forms the gateway to a labyrinth of Freudian dread, venal family values, and naked neediness that could only come from the mind of Harold Pinter. Director Sir Peter hall re-renders his original Royal Shakespeare Company London stage triumph as a bleached, claustrophobic delirium that exploits the jagged tempos and seductive tensions of Pinter's best play as no theatre staging could.