"Still Pinteresque "By SARAH LYALL
Published: October 7, 2007 LONDON
The New York Times
But what did Maggie say on the other end? The director, Kenneth Branagh, asked that of the screenwriter, Harold Pinter, in rehearsal, and it was a natural question; in “Sleuth” reality is elusive, and the truth is often little more than an opportunistic weapon.
The response was not particularly satisfying, but it was classically Pinteresque.
“Harold said to me,'Who said it was Maggie ?'" Mr. Branagh said, laughing as he recalled it. "He said,'We know that the phone rings and that he appears to be having a conversation. '”
"I would suggest that the old piece is about game playing and the new piece is about men fighting," Mr. Law said. (Mr. Caine appeared in the original film, as the younger man, Milo; Laurence Olivier played Andrew.)
"It hints at Harold's opinion of war," Mr. Law added. "Man's primal instinct is to fight, and sometimes we lose sight of what we're fighting over."
Much of Mr. Pinter's work concerns power — who has it, who doesn't, where it comes from, how it can shift. That is very much the case here. It
may be that nature likes pinter's style, and the old version is relatively calm in comparison.
Although the original drama was written by that person.
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