Word: pimp
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...suggestive conversation culminating in a sensual dance between Ruth and Joey. Then Lenny, matter-of-factly, proposes that Ruth remain in England as the sexual companion of the family, and that she also earn a little money on the side as one of his whores (his occupation as a pimp now being revealed). Ruth coolly accepts and her husband, Teddy, readily agrees to the setup. As the lights dim, Ruth sits at center stage, fondling Joey, while the old father, Max, crawls at her feet, begging her to "kiss...
...After one puzzlingly suggestive remark by Ruth, Lenny wails--almost as if he spoke for the audience: "Is that a proposition? Damn it, was that a proposition or wasn't it?" We demand that everyone fit in a well-known category: The whore, the kindly old man, the pimp, the vain and stupid boxer (Joey)--and Pinter shoots it all out from under us as soon as we think we know...
...fantasy?" The absurdity of the situation grows stronger with each new turn of events; Lenny coolly makes his proposition, Ruth Coolly accepts it, and Teddy remains absolutely unconcerned. The family even asks Teddy if he wants to act as Ruth's "representative in the States", a kind of international pimp. Max laughs: "Why, Pan Am ought to give us a discount!" And to the absurdity is added the dream-like quality of Ruth's speech and action. The rhythms of the actors' speech become incantations, and feed the suggestion of fantasy and dreams...
...McDonald's Lenny, while lacking in the sleekness one expects from the suggestion that he is a big-time pimp, is still quite good. There is one particularly fine interplay between Lenny, Ruth, their dialogue, and a pair of inanimate objects (a glass and an ashtray) which illustrates Pinter's capacity to utilize all the elements of production at his disposal. Lenny suddenly, and inexplicably, becomes insistent upon removing a glass he had given Ruth. "I'll take it," he demands, and she replies: "If you take it...I'll take you." The effect of this first sensual suggestion...
Most remarkable about Sunday, Bloody Sunday from a film perspective is Schlesinger's sudden acquisition of taste and tact. The man who made New York City into a playground of straw men so that a pimp and a hustler could look like folk heroes here presents the first sequences which portray homosexuality and Jewish ethnicity without smirking at their subjects. Some affectation is still present: a wayward bedside TV set, which brings back bad memories of Sylvia Miles'; a sinuous pan up Elkin's body as seen by Alex through a shower curtain; postured bit-playing by effete types...