Search - Great Writers: Tennessee Williams on DVD

"Tenn"

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 06/30/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is more play-heavy, than heavy on biographical facts. Further, they show more scenes from film adaptations of Williams' plays than actual stage productions. They quickly show a piece of paper which had "Thomas" scratched out and "Tennessee" written over it, but you never heard the reasons behind the name change.

This was great to see Williams through the ages. You can see him black-haired and gray-haired, with facial hair and without it. This is the first time that I've ever heard Williams' voice. We'll never know what Shakespeare sounded like, but we have the technology to have recorded Tennessee's voice.

Unlike other productions where a person's gayness is downplayed, this work doesn't shy away from admitting the sexuality of the author. Unlike productions that imply that famous people are always and forever loved by the masses and the critics, this work admits that Williams had many detractors.

The work ends by mentioning that Williams died at the age of 71. I read that he died painfully when he accidentally swallowed a bottle cap. The horror of his death is not discussed at all.

The work mentions his creative work with Eli Kazan. Perhaps they were the Elton John-Bernie Taupin or Andy Bell-Vince Clarke of their generation. This documentary is diverse in terms of the gender and sexuality of its interviewees."