Analyzing the commercial failure of a movie 30 years after its release might not do much, if anything, to offset the film’s financial losses. In the case of Luis Puenzo’s failed big-budget 1992 adaptation of Albert Camus’ “The Plague,” perhaps there’s a streamer presentation that might perform a minor financial resuscitation on its P&l for Canal Plus and Gaumont. But given its subject matter, “The Plague” is more valuable as an instructive story illustrating the maxim, “Timing is everything.”
Puenzo’s sober, subdued take on Camus’ trenchant blend of natural catastrophe and political evil might find a more ready audience today, in this time of a pandemic accompanied by strange global political rumblings. In 1992, only a decade after the AIDS pandemic hit, important filmmakers were just beginning to address the tragic dimensions of the outbreak.
Jonathan Demme’s 1993 multi-Oscar winner “Philadelphia,” was also probably a better match for the times.
Puenzo’s sober, subdued take on Camus’ trenchant blend of natural catastrophe and political evil might find a more ready audience today, in this time of a pandemic accompanied by strange global political rumblings. In 1992, only a decade after the AIDS pandemic hit, important filmmakers were just beginning to address the tragic dimensions of the outbreak.
Jonathan Demme’s 1993 multi-Oscar winner “Philadelphia,” was also probably a better match for the times.
- 1/14/2022
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
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