Blu-ray, DVD Release: Vanya on 42nd Street

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 28, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion

A group of actors get down to some serious Chekhovian business in Vanya on 42nd Street.

A group of New York actors rehearse Anton Chekhov’s classic play Uncle Vanya in a rundown theater in the 1994 comedy-drama film Vanya on 42nd Street.

The comedy-drama movie was shot in the 1990s, when theater director André Gregory mounted a series of spare, private performances of Uncle Vanya in a crumbling Manhattan playhouse. These unique moments were captured on film by director Louis Malle (Zazie Dans Le Metro ).

In Vanya on 42nd Street, a stellar cast of actors — including Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride), Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right) and Brooke Smith (Fair Game) — embark on a full read-through of the play (adapted into English by David Mamet). The resulting film of the event by Malle, which turned out to be his last movie, is a tribute to Chekhov’s legendary work as well as to the creative process itself.

For Criterion’s Blu-ray and DVD edition, the movie got a new high-definition digital restoration. Plus, the Blu-ray features a 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

Both the Blu-ray and DVD edition of Vanya on 42nd Street offers the following special features:

• new documentary featuring interviews with André Gregory, the play’s director; actors Lynn Cohen, George Gaynes, Julianne Moore, Larry Pine, Wallace Shawn, and Brooke Smith; and producer Fred Berner
• trailer
• booklet featuring an essay by critic Steven Vineberg and a 1994 on-set report by film critic Amy Taubin

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