A 2006 New York revival of Mother Courage in New York starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline provides the foundation for an invigorating consideration of the enduring significance of the theatre of Bertolt Brecht.
Inspired, inspiring... There is much to admire in a movie in which intelligent adults... discuss art as if it matters.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2009
Theater of War 2008
“The Public Theater's 2006 revival of Mother Courage in New York, starring Meryl Streep (and Kevin Kline), provides the foundation for a canny reintroduction to the ever-invigorating Bertolt Brecht. John Walter skilfully layers together rehearsal moments, archival audio of startling immediacy, and interviews with Streep, Tony Kushner (who wrote the production's translation), Brecht associates, and others. Theater of War reveals its subject, who fled the Nazis in the early Thirties, to be an evolving thinker (now boiled down in critical usage to the ‘Brechtian’ chestnut)... The mix of hybrid approach and vivid detail bring Brecht into sharp focus.” — Nicolas Rapold, Film Comment
“For anyone interested in the continuing relevance of theater in a society dominated by momentary electronic impulses, in the responsibility of artists in wartime and in the greatest anti-capitalist, anti-government, antiwar and anti-romantic playwright of the 20th century, Walter's cool, capable, stimulating exploration is a must.” — Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com