Mack the Knife

I also agree, Bobby Darrin has NOTHING to do with the original spirit of "ThreePenny Opera", no offense.This show, if done as intended, will be fun and baudy, while at the same time, making the audience a little uncomfortable. That is the main essence of the piece, and I think this film captures it admirably. Sexy, rowdy, fun, and with an air of doom the entire time. I was a bit put off about them giving "Barbara Song" to Polly instead of Lucy, it changes the entire meaning of the song. Perhaps I'm just biased because I performed and loved that song. But none of the liberties taken with the material were unforgiveable in my opinion. The Tango number between Mack and Jenny is the best part, an edge-of-your-seat type sexiness and danger.So don't let loyalty to the original format ruin your enjoyment of this film. Don't miss out!Courtney Hebert Student at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy

I know 3-Penny Opera and saw Raul Julia perform it at the Public. This is an abomination. Kurt Weill and Brecht must be rolling over in their graves. With a talented cast (Julia, Migenes, Walters, Harris etc) it is so horribly wrong that it comes off as "3-Penny-Oliver!". What a shame. I was hoping for a truer version of 3- Penny Opera. Do not bother with this. It is embarrassing!

GREAT MUSICAL.JUST LIKE SITTING IN THE AUDIANCE AT THE THEATRE.REALLY ENJOY THE PERFORMERS.

I loved it !

When I was in my 20's, I was first introduced to The Threepenny Opera in the form of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production featuring Raul Julia as MacHeath. I was hooked. That wonderful version was on LP, and has not been released on CD. If this film had not been made, that version would have been completely lost- at least large parts of it are reproduced here. This film is the closest you will get to that version, with most, if not all, of the same actors in the same roles. Raul Julia really does make a wonderful MacHeath. Some of the lyrics have been changed and some songs left out, but oddly they tried to keep as much of the original flavor as possible, songs that were omitted due to length considerations are still given tribute by a brief musical interlude/ suggestion so if you are familiar with the play you can at least appreciate where they should have fit in though they are reduced to "ghosts". I only wish that it would have been possible to reproduce the entire musical- this is my main complaint though I truly enjoyed the movie- it was like seeing an "old friend" ( my LP was destroyed years ago and I can't find another one). Other versions have not been as satisfying. I especially enjoyed Julia's powerful rendition of MacHeath "Call From the Grave" as he is standing on the gallows. For those who are not familiar with the background, Threepenny was not based only on John Gay's "The Beggars Opera" it was also based pretty closely on the poetry of the early French poet and thief Francois Villon, a real person who may be the prototype for the character of MacHeath. There is a translation of a Villon poem which is also a call from the gallows which is eerily identical to the lyrics of this version. So if you are a Threepenny fan, check out Villon, both the Swinbourne translation and some of the later ones- you'll recognize a lot of material. The music in this film is very similar to the 1999 Berlin version, and though that is understandably in German it is the closest complete version to the now lost Royal Shakespeare production which will always be my personal favorite.

I had never heard of this version. I had seen the 50s stage play twice and was a great fan of it and have the CD. Golan-Globus have a reputation as schlock producers and this was directed by Golan but it's really so well done that he probably should have stuck with directing. I agree with the reviewer that didn't like the switching of who sings songs and the leaving out of others. Wish they had stuck with the Off Broadway version.On the other hand, the cast is marvelous. Raul Julia is the best Mack I've ever seen; he gets Mack's arrogance and slimee-ness. I had met him briefly when he was in DC doing "Dracula" and found him to a wonderful, playful guy. Wish he had lived longer. Julie Waters is terrific as Mrs Peachin as an Agnes Moorehead type villianess. Richard Harris surprises me that he can sing but Ed Asner nailed the grubby Peachin on stage at Christopher Street.I wish someone like Julie Taymor would remake this and respect Blitzstein's original lyrics and cast Barbra Streisand as Jenny and let her sing "Pirate Jenny". Johnny Depp as Mack, Beyonce as Lucy Brown, Evan Rachel Wood as Polly. I wish there was a definitive movie/DVD but, in the meantime, a DVD version of Golan's would suffice.

We stumbled on this version of Threepenny Opera by accident, it doesn't come up if you put Threepenny Opera into the search engine, but we came to it by searching Raul Julia's name.I first saw Opera at Antioch College when it was put on by the drama class in an outdoor production. It was during one of the many financial crises there and they told me that they had put it on for about $300.00. I was enchanted.We had tried to watch the original movie, but perhaps because it was in German (a language I am not familiar with so I had to read the subtitles) I simply could not get into it.I was very happy to find this version. It is quick and funny and very nasty, just what it is intended to be, I think. A nice little satire of the ruling classes. Both Julia as Mack and Daltrey as the Narrator are excellent. The larger numbers seem to be a little stagey and that is the only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars.I highly recommend it and wish that I could get it on DVD.