Movieo
Poster for Vanya on 42nd Street

Vanya on 42nd Street

1994 · 1h 59m · PG Drama
Directed by Louis Malle

Seen it?

Overview

An uninterrupted rehersal of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" played out by a company of actors. The setting is their run down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
89%
Tomatometer
Fresh

It's amazing it has taken Wallace Shawn, Andre Gregory, and director Louis Malle more than 10 years to collaborate again. It was worth the wait, though.

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Rotten

The performances are precise, the language is alive and well spoken and the setting is striking, but Vanya on 42nd Street still suffers rather heavily from the limitations of filmed theater.

Todd McCarthy, Variety
Fresh

Malle adeptly eases us into the play so we can't tell at what precise moment Chekhov takes over, an ambiguity that becomes the film's triumph as well as its key limitation.

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Fresh

The elegant understatement of this production turns it into a livelier experiment, a fluent, gripping version of one of Chekhov's more elusive plays.

Janet Maslin, New York Times
Fresh

This live-wire Vanya, freshly observed for the '90s, is fiercely funny, touching and vital.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films