Vanya on 42nd Street

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Vanya on 42nd Street

PG

1994

1h 59m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

89%

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35 Reviews

79%

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1,000+ Ratings

In this imaginative reworking of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," filmmaker Louis Malle both distances the playwright's work and makes it more intimate. Theater director Andre Gregory and his actors, including Wallace Shawn as Vanya and Julianne Moore as Yelena, arrive at the decrepit New Amsterdam Theater in New York's Times Square, making casual conversation amongst themselves. While still wearing their street clothes, the actors then perform the play on a nearly blank makeshift stage.

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Critics Consensus

Beautiful performances and the subtle hand of master Louis Malle make this adaptation of Chekov's Uncle Vanya an eccentric presentation of an enduring classic.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

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.

Rated: A

Jul 6, 2010

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Empire Magazine

The drawback, however, is that the actors chew the scenery in true stagecraft fashion, which, on film, induces regular wincing and a wish that they would hand out the valium and take it easy.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 12, 2008

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Todd McCarthy

Variety

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.

Aug 12, 2008

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Louis Malle's swan-song, while perhaps not his most noteworthy work, happens to contain a priceless amount of cultural significance, a romantic document of the ultimate theatrical experience.

Nov 19, 2020

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James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

The alchemy of Gregory's staging and Malle's direction turn what could have been an exercise in canned theater into something very nearly sublime.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 14, 2015

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Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews

A deeply moving, inspirational secular-sacred experience both for its beautiful embodiment of Chekhov's story of unmoored souls and for the beauty of the greatest collaborative art form, practiced with pure joy and for love. [Blu-ray]

Rated: 4/4

Jul 3, 2015

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Andrei D

Wallace Shawn is very good but the rest of the cast is too theatrical and the structure too classic

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/24/25

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S R

I saw it since it was on the NYT 1000 movies list. It was a pleasant surprise to see a theater production in an old NY Theater on film. It is well acted and made. SLC DVD.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/22/25

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lou l

Mise in abyme, ellipse, the most easy way to Tchekov, in my personnal case.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/04/24

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Bianca B

Excellent rendering by legendary director Louis Malle- of the Cechov classic Uncle Vanya. All the roles played convincingly yet spontaneously in the modern setting of a dilapidated theatre - mirroring Vanya’s own dilapidated life . Unlike other reviewers I did not find the theatrical approach overwhelming . A gem to be ( re) discovered .

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/17/24

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dave s

Vanya on 42nd Street, an odd but faithful adaptation of Chekhov's play, is set in a rundown New York theater where a group of actors gather to rehearse Uncle Vanya. It's worth watching for a few reasons. It is the final directorial effort for Louis Malle, the great French director who died shortly after the film was released. The cast, featuring Wallace Shawn, Julianne Moore and Brooke Smith, all give solid performances. Above all, the play, about the complexity of family dynamics, is timeless. Out of fairness, the film is a bit wordy and may be off-putting to anyone who objects to what is essentially a filmed stage play, but it remains a fairly compelling story and should be of interest to most audiences.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

This reignited my love of seeing plays. It felt like he was a contemporary of Ibsen. found our way to it after seeing the film "Drive My Car", which is based on a short story that involves a production of the play.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Louis Malle

Director

Wallace Shawn

Vanya

Julianne Moore

Yelena

Brooke Smith

Sonya

Larry Pine

Dr. Astrov

George Gaynes

Serybryakov

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Synopsis

In this imaginative reworking of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," filmmaker Louis Malle both distances the playwright's work and makes it more intimate. Theater director Andre Gregory and his actors, including Wallace Shawn as Vanya and Julianne Moore as Yelena, arrive at the decrepit New Amsterdam Theater in New York's Times Square, making casual conversation amongst themselves. While still wearing their street clothes, the actors then perform the play on a nearly blank makeshift stage.

Director: Louis Malle
Producer: Fred Berner
Screenwriter: Andre Gregory
Production Co: Channel Four Films, Mayfair Entertainment, The Vanya Company
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 13, 1994, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 19, 1994
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $501.5K
Runtime: 1h 59m

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