October 4, 2011 - 4:58pm
Malkovich takes Hill's stage as a serial killer with long-winded sopranos in tow
BY LEAH BURGIN
Most students at the University don’t remember the story of Jack Unterweger. But ask someone whose memory was more developed in the early ’90s and they’ll recall the international fame Unterweger achieved as the Austrian serial killer who murdered prostitutes with their own bra straps.
Ask the same question to someone who attended the UMS-hosted performance of “The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer” Saturday night at Hill Auditorium, and they’ll tell you Unterweger, among other things, is a “PC” — Macs anger the white-suit clad killer stuck in a purgatorial state of a public reading for his “confessional” book.
Through instances of perverse humor, slippery logic and violent outbursts, John Malkovich let the audience into his version of the serial killer’s psyche: the preoccupation of what is “truth,” what is “innocence” and was it really his fault if he did kill all those women?
Malkovich played his interpretation of Unterweger convincingly. When he walked on stage and began his monologue with an apology for his Austrian accent, I turned to Joe Cadagin, the Daily’s fine arts editor, and whispered excitedly, “Wait, I didn’t know Malkovich was from Austria!” Joe had to explain to me, like I was a child, “Leah, he’s playing a character.” I naturally felt foolish, but I can hardly be blamed for falling victim to Malkovich’s acting prowess.
Malkovich also used movement to great affect during his monologues. In a particularly memorable scene, Malkovich dragged one of the sopranos he performed with around the stage, mimicking how one could strangle someone with a bra strap. What made this action chilling, however, was how he continued talking to the audience the entire time, like nothing else was happening.
However, the direction the performance was taken in was jarring and ineffective. In addition to Malkovich’s monologues, a 40-piece orchestra and two sopranos would intersperse the dialogue with a variety of arias intended to emphasize the dramatic motif associated with Unterweger’s life. Instead, these arias continued for way too long and had very little connection with the events being portrayed on stage. The orchestra and sopranos were extremely talented, but needed to cut back their involvement. We wanted more Malkovich — even if he was playing a bizarre Austrian serial killer.
