David Auburn's PROOF (2005) Movie / (2002) Straight Play at The GSIS Theater


Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a 27-year-old grieving after the loss of her father (Anthony Hopkins), a genius mathematician whose mind gradually deteriorated from mental illness. With her sister, Claire (Hope Davis), urging Catherine to leave their family home, and an ambitious student (Jake Gyllenhaal) searching through her father's notes, Catherine struggles to keep her composure and her sanity in this drama adapted from the stage play by David Auburn.-WWW
Initial release30 September 2005 (USA)
Story byDavid Auburn  (This was presented first in the year 2000(May- Off Broadway- New Brunswick, New Jersey/ October-Great White Way or Broadway).  It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play)
NominationsGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Drama
2006 · Gwyneth Paltrow/ Golden Lion 2005 · John Madden/ Grand Jury Prize
2005 · John Madden/ Volpi Cup for Best Actress 2005/ Volpi Cup for Best Actor
2005/ Marcello Mastroianni Award 2005/ Best Screenplay Award 2005 · Rebecca Miller, David Auburn/ Silver Lion for Best Director 2005 · John Madden/ Award for Best Technical Contribution 2005

My mouth is still agape.  I have just finished watching PROOF(2005) again.  I like the way John Madden, David Auburn and Rebecca Miller swung from the present, the past, the imaginary (Father and Daughter having a real conversation even when the former already crossed over), present, past, so forth and so on.

Billy Hopkins, Paul Schnee, Kerry Barden and Suzanne Smith chose the best actors to play each role. Hope Davis is very believable as Claire, Anthony Hopkins is so convincing as Robert, Jake Gyllenhaal is as conflicted as Hal should be and Gwyneth Paltrow IS Catherine.

In January 2002, three years before I watched this film the first time,  I watched the straight play version with my friend, Xenia, at the GSIS Theater starring Ms. Lea Salonga, Michael De Mesa, Joel Trinidad and Ms. Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.  We enjoyed the play so much.  The four actors delivered.  Three exceeded our expectations, but one of them still had a lot to learn(and to think that among the four of them, being the oldest and being an actor longer than the three of them, I thought...)about acting in straight English plays.  I'm not saying he's bad, because he's one of the best there is, but...well, who am I to lambaste him? I have no right.  He did well, in his own right, it's just that... I better shut up.

#ATEG #AtlantisProductions #BobbyGarcia #FatherDaughter #JoelTrinidad #LeaSalonga #MathematicalGenius #Mathematician #MenchuLauchengcoYulo #MichaelDeMesa #Proof

Dramatis Personae: (description NOT mine)

Lea Salonga as Catherine, A young woman, 25 years old, who inherited much of her father's mathematical genius and, she fears, his "instability" as well; she gave up her life and schooling to take care of her father until his recent death.
Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as Claire, Catherine's older sister, a practical and business-minded woman who has been comfortably successful in her work and relationships. She left Robert and Catherine behind, distancing herself from the run-down family home of her youth. She left the family to make a new life for herself in New York City.
Michael De Mesa as Robert, A recently deceased mathematician praised for his groundbreaking work in his youth, but whose later years were plagued by delusional mental illness; he is seen in Catherine's imagination and in flashbacks.
Joel Trinidad as Hal, One of Robert's last Ph.D. students during the one year his idol and mentor's illness went into remission, at least enabling Robert to teach, if not continue his own creative mathematical work.

and the Little Black Dress

Oh, let's not forget the Manhattan Coffee.  ;-)

The straight play was shown in the Philippines after its successful Broadway run.  It has two acts. #flashbacks #flashforwards

Which version did I like better? I can't say.  The straight play was as believable as the movie.  There are things a full length feature could show that the play couldn't, but even if that's the case, there's something magical about watching it as it happens.  Is that even what I want to say?

As I rack my brain, I think what I want to say is that because the four actors in the straight play that we watched were so good that they were also able to make us feel every emotion they were feeling.  Bobby Garcia directed it well, indeed.

As for the movie, what's great about it is that the original author was able to adapt it into a screenplay collaborating with Rebecca Miller.  He was able to envision the scenes cinematically and more effectively for a wider audience.

He lengthened certain scenes and the drama was heightened.  #pride #disappointment #controlling #disbelief

Both movie and straight play wrenched hearts, but both gave a feeling of victory at the end too.

Well, it wasn't really the end, but a new chapter in their lives.


Would I watch it again?

Of course! Both versions, even.  :-)



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