Genet The Balcony

Jean Genet's The Balcony (Le Balcon in original French) is considered by many to be the one of his masterpieces, though it was written after he said he would give up writing plays altogether. The Balcony was his first commercially successful play. Like many of Genet's works, the play was inspired by Genet's contempt for society and obsession with topics such as sex, prostitution, politics, and revolution. Set inside a brothel where common men play men of power in their sexual fantasies, The Balcony reflects on the emptiness of societal roles. Reality and illusion feed off each other in the difficult play. Dreams may make reality tolerable, but when they come true, as when the customers are forced to live the roles they play, it is not as satisfying.

The Balcony was first published in 1956, and was first produced in London on April 22, 1957, at the Arts Theatre Club. Genet did not like the production because it was done in a way that was too tasteful and realistic. His protests led to his banishment from the theater during the production. The play made its American debut in March 1960 at the Circle in the Square Theater, in New York City. There The Balcony ran for 672 performances and won an Obie Award for Genet. It was generally well received, though some critics thought it was hard to understand because of its complexity and reliance on illusion. The first French performance of The Balcony took place in May 1960. Since these initial performances, the play has been produced on a regular basis. As Donald Malcolm of the New Yorker wrote, 'M. Genet's vision of society is both perverse and private, and his play is a species of Grand Guignol arresting, horrific, and trivial.'

After the sentence, they petitioned for his release and a pardon was granted. In the late 1940s, Genet began to write for the theatre, but several of his plays were too controversial to be performed in France. His plays included The Maids, Deathwatch, The Blacks, and The Balcony. He died on April 15, 1986. The Balcony, play by Jean Genet, produced and published in 1956 as Le Balcon. Influenced by the Theatre of Cruelty, The Balcony contains nine scenes, eight of which are set inside the Grand Balcony bordello. The brothel is a repository of illusion in a contemporary European city aflame with.

The Balcony
Directed by	Joseph Strick
Produced by	Ben Maddow Joseph Strick
Written by	Jean Genet Ben Maddow
Starring	Shelley Winters Peter Falk Leonard Nimoy Ruby Dee Lee Grant
Cinematography	George J. Folsey
Edited by	Chester W. Schaeffer
Distributed by	Continental Distributing
Release date
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,200,000 (US/Canada)^[1]

The Balcony is a 1963 film adaptation of Jean Genet's 1957 play The Balcony, directed by Joseph Strick. It stars Shelley Winters, Peter Falk, Lee Grant and Leonard Nimoy. George J. Folsey was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Ben Maddow was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award. The film also credits the photographer Helen Levitt as an assistant director and Verna Fields as the sound editor.^[2]

Plot[edit]

Shelley Winters plays the madam of a brothel where customers play out their erotic fantasies, oblivious to a revolution that is sweeping the country. When her old friend, the chief of police (Peter Falk), asks her to impersonate the missing queen in order to reassure the people and halt the revolution, she offers instead that three of her customers play the general, bishop and chief justice, all of whom have died in the revolution.^[3]

Reception[edit]

Shortly after its release, the film was negatively reviewed by The New York Times' critic Bosley Crowther,^[4] but favorably reviewed in Variety: 'With Jean Genet's apparent approval, Joe Strick and Ben Maddow have eliminated the play's obscene language (though it's still plenty rough) and clarified some of its obscurations. The result is a tough, vivid and dispassionate fantasy.'^[5]

Following the release of the DVD in 2000, Karl Wareham also reviewed the film favorably: 'The Balcony is recommended for those who like an enigma of a film, one that tugs at your subconscious long after the titles fade. It’s a film that reaches to the very heart of why our society works in the way it does, and presents unrelenting questions and dilemmas.'^[6]

Preservation[edit]

The Academy Film Archive preserved The Balcony in 2010.^[7]