Word: comically
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...angel of movies, concerts and Grammy-winning albums. As a comedy monologuist, Pryor is without peer. Drawing his material from the black hole of ghetto life and death, Pryor uses his dramatic power to magnetize his listeners into the fire-flash fear of the moment-even as his skewed comic perspective offers distance, safety, reassurance. As a straight actor, he has the uncanny knack of educing raw emotions from himself and his audience. Vulnerability, untempered rage, urchin craftiness, a rough dignity-all these moods seem to seep through him. In fact, the two Richard Pryors, kamikaze comic and sensitive actor...
...PROBLEM for an American audience is losing part of the impact of this almost entirely visual film in order to read dialogue like "Contact bearing 22.37 degree--sinking fast!" "Full speed ahead at 30' 2" !" and "Aye, aye, captain!" Watching the movie is like reading a super-action-heroes comic book. Moreover, sailor's slang, no matter how well translated, is meant to be heard and not read: "Screw till it falls off, you swine!" For once it seems a film might be better dubbed than subtitled, expect that the sound of the German language is an essential part...
Hoffmann is best seen as the progression of a soul. There is the comic slapstick of Act I, in which the eponymous poet falls in love with Olympia, a mechanical doll. Next there is the sobering disappointment of Act II, in which the hero falls in love with a faithless Venetian courtesan. Finally, there is the tragic catharsis of Act III, in which Hoffmann's sincere love for the simple, shy singer Antonia is destroyed by the vicious machinations of the evil Dr. Miracle. Each affair should appear to be more intense than the last...
...production illustrates the progression perfectly. The first act-all bright colors and gaily spinning contraptions-is an extended divertissement, with Hoffmann the butt of a joke shared by everyone except him. Olympia, the crowning achievement of Spalanzani's workshop, is obviously a machine, and in a fine, broad comic touch, Director Schenk has the inventor's assistant twist each of her fingers to produce the dazzling coloratura of her famous Doll's Song. The mood turns passionate when Hoffmann meets the sensuous Giulietta, and Schneider-Siemssen's Venice creates an atmosphere of dark mystery, with shadowy...
...whole rape scene provides the scene for some light comic interplay. A rather sardonic but winning El Gallo (Rich Dikeman) steps forwards to stage the event, for a price. Enlisting a pair of dubious Shakespearian actors, who have their moments in a rather absurd subplot. El Gallo pulls off what he calls a "first-class rape...