NET Playhouse: The Journey of the Fifth Horse

Very interesting, well acted videotaped play, starring Dustin Hoffman in one of his earliest leading roles.

Hoffman has some great moments, though he occasionally goes over the top, but the whole cast of NY theater actors is top notch.

Hoffman plays a reader for a publishing company in 1890s Russia with grandiose dreams who is assigned to read the diary of a now dead nobleman, and their two very different tragic lives blend in Hoffman's character's head.

Deft and well handled and ultimately quite moving. A very interesting use of multiple time frames and fantasies. The quality of the videotape itself is a bit rough - understandable given the age - but this is well worth seeing.

This play, of course, would have been a lot better seen on stage, but watching this movie was still an excellent use of my time. The best part of this particular screen adaptation is Dustin Hoffman (This is the first movie he starred in) who perfectly plays Zoditch, the schmo whose psyche is analyzed in Journey of the Fifth Horse. The other actors also play their roles excellently. The play is simple, low-key, and thoughtful, and the characters are dynamically human. I have not seen very many plays, and I have seen none of Ivan Turgenev's, but I was touched by every scene and never bored for a moment.

I recommend this solemnly poignant film to everyone.