Product Description

On the morning of june 16 1904 leopold bloom set out on a journey that was to become one of the greatest tales of the 20th century. Adapted from james joyces ulysses bloom is an enthralling story of love loss & lust. Studio: Mti Productions Release Date: 07/26/2005 Starring: Stephen Rea Hugh Oconnor Run time: 108 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44948 in DVD
• Brand: MTI
• Released on: 2004-08-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Customer Reviews

Visualizing James Joyce's Stream of Consciousness Well
BLOOM is bound to polarize audiences into those who believe Joyce's great novel ULYSSES should never be tampered with and those who welcome revisiting the glories of the story of one day (June 16, 1904) in the lives of three main characters in the streets and surroundings of Dublin, Ireland. For this viewer this adaptation by Sean Walsh for the screen works on almost every level. Walsh was brave indeed to make the internal dialogues of these important and endlessly interesting characters visual, and how he succeeded will be, happily, up to the interpretation of the viewer.

Joyce's ULLYSSES intertwines the thoughts and strolls and inner thinking and perseverations of Molly Bloom (Angeline Ball) who opens the film with lusty thoughts of her well-endowed lover while lolling in bed with her husband Leopold Bloom (Stephen Rea) who is fixated on specific parts of the female anatomy and who holds in abeyance his grief for his dead son. The other character of focus is Stephen Dedalus (Hugh O'Conor) whose general awakening to the world is both exhilarating and isolatedly toxic. There is no real story here, simply the meanderings and happenstance crossing of paths of these three indelible people. If at times the musings and fantasies of Leopold Bloom seem on the verge of outrageous (especially the scenes of his thoughts about domination/submission complete with oddly costumed characters), if the views of the 'snot-green' sea seem repetitive, if Molly Bloom's sexual antics border on absurd, then just return to ULYSSES and the seeds are all there.

For many, James Joyce is an acquired taste and the random nature of this filmed version of his writing will be off-putting. But for those who still relish the thoughts of the initial struggles and eventual rewards of reading ULYSSES, this film will satisfy. Kudos to Sean Walsh and to his committed cast of Stephen Rea, Angeline Ball and Hugh O'Conor for making it happen. Grady Harp, April 05

Best of Joyce on Film to Date
If you are unfamiliar with - or intimidated by - arguably the finest English language novel of the 20th century, this film is for you. Like those from many Irish households that have unread copies of "Ulysses" on the shelves, I was both fascinated and reluctant to take on this novel. That all changed once I got my hands on this DVD. After a couple of viewings of this very beautiful and intelligent film, I launched myself on to an incredibly rewarding adventure of reading the book itself.

Scholars can quivel over the minor points but from my reading the novel, the movie stays very close to the book while masterfully dealing with a number of concurrent plots. The devotion of the director, the actors and other participants in the making of this film mirror that of "Lord of the Ring" trilogy but on an obviously smaller scale. Often projects done out of love justify avoiding such films at all costs but this time the passion succeeds.

This movie brings "Ulysses" out of the ivory tower and out on to the streets of Dublin town where it belongs.

Amazing adaptation of Joyce's ULYSSES--teachers must have!
Anyone who still includes James Joyce's ULYSSES among the books they teach should have this DVD. Not only is it amazingly helpful to see the work portrayed so that you understand the way scenes are a mix of memory, reflection, and real-time interchange among characters, but the extras on the DVD, such as the 'scenes' labeled according to their corresponding segments, such as CIRCE, ITHACA, etc., offer a fabulous study aid.

And for those who, as Sean Walsh describes in his explanation of why he created this work, have always wanted to read the novel but never quite made it past page 10, it gives a grounding in the outline of the work that allows a reader to return for another try that not only makes the reading easier, but also increases the ability to relax and just enjoy the beauty of the language!