Synopsis
Smooth. Sharp. Deadly.
In the 19th century London, a young girl falls for a famous womanizing criminal and they decide to get married. Her family strongly disapproves so her father "the king of thieves" gets the gangster arrested.
Mack the Knife
Cast
Director
Producers
Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Koldusopera, אופרה בגרוש, Opera za trzy grosze, O Príncipe dos Mendigos
Releases by Date
Theatrical
-
USAPG-13
Releases by Country
USA
01 Nov 1989
- TheatricalPG-13
Popular reviews
More-
Cannon Group founder Menahem Golan turns his bombastic auteur vision to Bertold Brecht's Three Penny Opera. A star-studded cast is built around Raul Julia in the title role, reprising a performance that had earned him a Tony nomination. Raul Julia is a force of nature in the role, dancing between comedy and pathos as the perfect Macheath. Julia Migenes (Carmen) is a joy to watch, and its a shame she didn't appear more frequently on the silver screen.
With typical aplomb, Golan surrounds these performances with red floodlights, garish costume designs, Russ Meyeresque cleavage, rock stars, and choreography that dances between cinematic and theatrical to a tune by the guy who had a hit of MacArthur Park. In short, this film is the reason that Golan-Globus existed.
-
Such a disappointment. I shouldn't have expected good things, considering this film's reputation, but I thought there'd be something of value outside of the original music. It's just so clear in every facet of this that there was no passion for the material behind the scenes. It's so lifeless throughout. I'm sure these actors are trying their best but they're being hampered by an uncaring production. Like there's these dance sections that don't really seem to match the song they're in and also aren't even fun or exciting. You're just...watching people move around.
Not even Raul Julia could save this :(
-
-
what if someone had the script to threepenny opera but had to filter it through lovely ladies/master of the house from les mis.
also Roger Daltrey Is There.at least the ending was all tee hee theatre but like womp womp loyalty to scrip does not a good adaptation make
-
When the clock strikes, Half Past Six, Babe!
Time to head for, Golden lights!
It's a good time, for the great taste, dinner, at McDonald's!
It's Mac Tonight!
C'mon make it Mac Tonight!
-
-
My friend who likes Bertolt Brecht says this is a bad adaptation of Threepenny Opera but I only watched it for Raul Julia who was magnificent. That is all.
-
"Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear, and he shows them pearly white. Just a jackknife has MacHeath dear, and he keeps it out of sight..."
In 19th century London, young Polly Peachum (Rachel Robertson) falls in love with the notorious criminal MacHeath (Raul Julia) known as Mack the Knife. Polly's parents are king and queen of the beggars (Richard Harris / Julie Walters) and not thrilled with the prospect, conspiring to have Mack arrested. Meanwhile prostitute Jenny Diver (Julia Migenes) has feelings of her own for Mack, but realizes he's not the type to ever settle down.
Mack the Knife is an adaptation of the 1928 musical The Three Penny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Menahem Golan… -
Considering that this English-language adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera was written for the screen and directed by executive producer Menahem Golan—whose previous and highly uneven directorial credits include a Sylvester Stallone weepie (OVER THE TOP) and such action pictures as THE DELTA FORCE and ENTER THE NINJA—it’s surprising how inoffensive it turns out to be. Not inspired, mind you, and not terribly memorable if you’ve seen other versions, but a respectable enough reading of a classic pop opera. Raul Julia is MacHeath, Richard Harris and Julie Walters are Mr. and Mrs. Peachum, Julia Migenes is Jenny, and Roger Daltrey is the Street Singer; others in the mainly English cast include Clive Revill, Erin Donovan, and Rachel Robertson.
-
Lots of great performances hobbled by poor production. It's neither as good as Brecht and Weil's source material deserve nor as entertainingly bad as director Golan's other musical, The Apple. Still, I enjoyed it for the ever-scintillating Raul Julia, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century makes a lot more sense now.
-
I knew Gomez had adventures before meeting Morticia but I didn’t expect them to be like this.
-
Disclaimer: i am very biased because this is based on Bertolt Brecht's work and i'm a dirty communist
some of the songs blatantly don't rhyme but at least they kept as close to tbe original lyrics as possible
Peachum sounds like he's got a bad case of pneumonia but when he sings he turns into that pirate from spongebob
Mack looks like Johnny Depp, Mister Bean and Waluigi had a child
normalize dumping your ptsd onto your spouse for a laugh