Galileo

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Alec B @Alec97 May 8, 2026 Adapting Brecht to film obviously presents a number of problems. If it is successful, you risk losing the audience but if you disregard the alienation effects entirely then you're not really serving the text and may as well do something else. Losey mostly pulls it off. The screenplay adaptation is the strongest aspect here as there are some undeniably great monologues. Some of the close-ups in the fourth wall breaks are uncomfortably close though and Topol's performance is perhaps a bit too hammy. An interesting experiment. I think this specific script would work well onstage if anyone was ever willing to do it again. See more Dec 11, 2012 This provocative and meditative collaboration is a hidden gem of historical drama. The dialogue is so masterfully written by Brecht and translated by Laughton that one could feasibly listen to the film without a single peek at the screen and still enjoy the entire drama. There is a highly interpretive and gestural ballad / ballet interlude that reaches deep and wide to the fringes of how impactful an earlier age of enlightenment might have been for all of us. The stylized interlude is likely to stir cringes from the average moviegoer, and might explain the lack of activity surrounding this work considering it's heavyweight authors and contributors. Topol must have been granted access to everything he needed to revive the legendary 1947 performance that Laughton is lauded for - perhaps it is the more obvious connection, the common director for both Laughton and Topol, Joseph Losey. Topol does a masterful job with the role, but I can imagine a more empathetic and cathartic experience from Laughton. I imagine Laughton brought the tragedy of Galileo's censure to a more emotional climax, as opposed to Topol's equally passionate, but decidedly cerebral and rational reaction to the harrowing conclusion of Galileo's work. See more Jan 15, 2011 A marginally inspired yet straightforward setup that doesn't work all the time (they REALLY should have gotten rid of those singing boy narrators), but Topol's magnetism holds it together well enough. See more Jul 25, 2009 The cast (especially the dynamic Topol as Galileo) is great for this filmed stageplay...not all the singing stuff works for me. See more May 1, 2008 Topol is one of my favorite actors, and this American Film Theater production of Bertolt Brecht's play is a tour-de-force for him. He's always wonderfully off-center, and he delivers one of the greatest comeback lines I've ever heard: 'What makes you think that I EVER eat my cheese absentmindedly?' See more Dec 28, 2007 Truely intelligent adaptation of Brecht's play. A must for philosophy students! See more Read all reviews

Galileo

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