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Vanya on 42nd Street

Play trailer Poster for Vanya on 42nd Street PG Released Sep 13, 1994 1h 59m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 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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Vanya on 42nd Street

Vanya on 42nd Street

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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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Critics Reviews

View All (36) Critics Reviews
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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (66) audience reviews
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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Read all reviews
Vanya on 42nd Street

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Movie Info

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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