The Overcoat (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Canadian Masterpiece

[Prof_Lostiswitz · 10/10 · 21 March 2002]

The Overcoat (aka The Cloak) is one of Gogol's most accessible stories, by the same writer who gave us The Inspector-General. There have been attempts at dramatizing it over the years, and Humphrey Searle even wrote an opera on it; but Morris Panych in Vancouver has created the version to top all others. The story is re-set in the west, in the 1920s, in an architect's office. There is no dialogue, only movement; more like mime than ballet- they claim to have taken their inspiration from silent movie technique. The story of the insignificant little clerk who achieves a fleeting moment of glory when he acquires a gorgeous new overcoat is too well known to need further explanation (alright then, read the book-it'll take you less than an hour). This version pads it out with a few scenes from Diary of a Madman; result- the apotheosis of the little guy. Check out the scene where Akaky (the hero) is going to sleep, and a strangely refined character (apparently the god of sleep) comes to charm him into slumberland. I saw one of the original performances at the Vancouver Playhouse a few years ago, and I knew that Panych & Co. and CBC Orchestra had pulled off something great; but the CBC "Opening Night" production adds a lot; it really makes you feel as if you are in a dream (or nightmare). I have been a big fan of Shostakovich and Gogol for aeons, and to have the two in bed together is almost too much. I suggest that this company should go on to do The Inspector-General and The Nose - they'd be perfect at it. Will they PLEASE release The Overcoat in the cinemas - it would be a thousand times better than what's there now. I assume it will be repeated on TV - we really need another opportunity to digest it all. Congrats to the dancers and the CBC Orchestra - Nazdorovye!!

PS The CBC has now released this on DVD, and you can get it at amazon.ca .

Simply astounding

[imdb-10420 · 10/10 · 14 September 2007]

Once again, SBS Television pulls through for Australia, albeit on a Saturday afternoon when if anyone's watching this time of year they're usually watching football - but no ads. Thank God for that. The fluidity of this piece (underlain by the music) is essential to its enjoyment, along with the incredible lighting, staging, choreography, amazing sets and performances.

I thought about giving this an 8 or a 9, but it's honestly one of the best things I've seen in a long time, and I can't imagine having to save that 10 for something else. So why not, it's a 10 from me! In many ways it could be classified as modern dance - an area that generally holds limited interest for me - but there are so many other elements and influences infused into this masterful piece of cinematography.

I've always liked Shostakovich (and many other Russian composers - too much Bach in your youth will do that to you), and his music along with the costumes, darkness, silent movie style, bland colours (in which the subject garment stands out), industrialism... They all give this a very strong period aura of late 19th century central Europe that reminds me of the likes of Kafka and Metropolis, but also of more recent efforts - Dark City even springs to mind.

Overtly a story about a man and his jacket, this piece deals with vanity, materialism and dare I say it - office politics. The social context of our main protagonist and his unrequited aspirations, along with an unintentional turn of events, drive him to indulge himself in a manner which he can't afford, which ultimately brings him to grief.

Watch out, because you may get what you wish for - in this case, a brand new jacket.

Thanks, Canada.