Desperate Souls, Dark City and The Legend Of Midnight Cowboy director Nancy Buirski on Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo: “They become appealing because of these wonderful performances by Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.”
Nancy Buirski’s masterpiece is much more than a documentary on John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy, screenplay by Waldo Salt, shot by Adam Holender, costumes by Ann Roth, and starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman with Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro, Jennifer Salt, and Bob Balaban. Desperate Souls, Dark City And The Legend Of Midnight Cowboy, edited by Anthony Ripoli, features on-camera interviews shot by Rex Miller with Lucy Sante, Brian De Palma, Edmund White, Michael Childers, Charles Kaiser, Jim Hoberman, Ian Buruma, Voight, Vaccaro, Balaban, Holender, and Jennifer Salt.
Brenda Vaccaro with John Schlesinger: “Ann Roth saved my life,” says Vaccaro, “by putting me in that fur coat.”
The evocative, wide-ranging, and evermore timely documentary drops us...
Nancy Buirski’s masterpiece is much more than a documentary on John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy, screenplay by Waldo Salt, shot by Adam Holender, costumes by Ann Roth, and starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman with Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro, Jennifer Salt, and Bob Balaban. Desperate Souls, Dark City And The Legend Of Midnight Cowboy, edited by Anthony Ripoli, features on-camera interviews shot by Rex Miller with Lucy Sante, Brian De Palma, Edmund White, Michael Childers, Charles Kaiser, Jim Hoberman, Ian Buruma, Voight, Vaccaro, Balaban, Holender, and Jennifer Salt.
Brenda Vaccaro with John Schlesinger: “Ann Roth saved my life,” says Vaccaro, “by putting me in that fur coat.”
The evocative, wide-ranging, and evermore timely documentary drops us...
- 6/26/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Click here to read the full article.
A hot trend in publishing these days is to write an entire book about the making of one seminal movie. In the last few years there have been books about West Side Story (the 1961 Oscar winner, not the Spielberg remake), The Wild Bunch, Chinatown and The Godfather, to name a few. Glenn Frankel, who wrote earlier books about the making of High Noon and The Searchers, followed up last year with Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic. Now that book has in turn inspired a new documentary by Nancy Buirski, which is playing in both Venice and Tellurida.
Although a 101-minute movie will never have the breadth or depth of a 340-page book, Buirski’s film does have the advantage of providing revealing on-camera interviews with several of the movie’s principals, including actors Jon Voight,...
A hot trend in publishing these days is to write an entire book about the making of one seminal movie. In the last few years there have been books about West Side Story (the 1961 Oscar winner, not the Spielberg remake), The Wild Bunch, Chinatown and The Godfather, to name a few. Glenn Frankel, who wrote earlier books about the making of High Noon and The Searchers, followed up last year with Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic. Now that book has in turn inspired a new documentary by Nancy Buirski, which is playing in both Venice and Tellurida.
Although a 101-minute movie will never have the breadth or depth of a 340-page book, Buirski’s film does have the advantage of providing revealing on-camera interviews with several of the movie’s principals, including actors Jon Voight,...
- 9/2/2022
- by Stephen Farber
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“I’m done.”
So said Charlton Heston, the stoic but exhausted hero of the 1973 futurist thriller Soylent Green. The movie’s message: Society will self-destruct in the year 2022 even as rigid rules and secret efficiencies are imposed to cope with disease and food shortages.
As we launch into Year 3 of the pandemic, there are fears that 2022 might eerily turn out to be the doomsday year forecast by that movie, with Omicron and its subsequent variants stirring anger and confusion.
I’ve reached out to a mix of denizens of the entertainment community this week and found that the words “I’m done” comprise a frequent theme. Even Bill Maher, ever irascible at 66, has now joined the dissidents who reject what he calls the “mask paranoia.” He endorses the view of guest Bari Weiss that the U.S. has created “a pandemic of bureaucracy,” while Europe, by contrast, has learned to live with Covid-19.
The public,...
So said Charlton Heston, the stoic but exhausted hero of the 1973 futurist thriller Soylent Green. The movie’s message: Society will self-destruct in the year 2022 even as rigid rules and secret efficiencies are imposed to cope with disease and food shortages.
As we launch into Year 3 of the pandemic, there are fears that 2022 might eerily turn out to be the doomsday year forecast by that movie, with Omicron and its subsequent variants stirring anger and confusion.
I’ve reached out to a mix of denizens of the entertainment community this week and found that the words “I’m done” comprise a frequent theme. Even Bill Maher, ever irascible at 66, has now joined the dissidents who reject what he calls the “mask paranoia.” He endorses the view of guest Bari Weiss that the U.S. has created “a pandemic of bureaucracy,” while Europe, by contrast, has learned to live with Covid-19.
The public,...
- 1/27/2022
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
John Schlesinger decided not to attend the Academy Awards in 1970, even though his film “Midnight Cowboy” had been nominated for Best Picture and he was up for Best Director. On the evening of April 7, 1970, otherwise known as Oscar night, the British director remained in London with his American boyfriend, the photographer Michael Childers. Schlesinger didn’t want to make the brutal 24-hour roundtrip flight to Hollywood and back, and besides, he was well into production on his follow-up film, “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” For him, it was a very personal project, and, in some ways, an even more controversial film than “Midnight Cowboy.”
As Schlesinger explained it, the genesis of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” went back to the early 1960s when he was directing his first play for the Royal Shakespeare Company. “At the time, I had a very intense affair with one of the actors, a man who was bisexual,” Schlesinger recalled.
As Schlesinger explained it, the genesis of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” went back to the early 1960s when he was directing his first play for the Royal Shakespeare Company. “At the time, I had a very intense affair with one of the actors, a man who was bisexual,” Schlesinger recalled.
- 6/2/2021
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Georgann Johnson | Written by Waldo Salt | Directed by John Schlesinger
“Where’s that Joe Buck?” the Texan locals ask. Here he is: it’s Jon Voight, a New Yorker playing a Deep Southern wannabe gigolo in flamboyant cowboy getup. Voight looks as pretty as his daughter playing the doe-eyed Joe, who ditches his grimy cafe job and sets off for the Big Apple to make a living sleeping with wealthy older women, while Fred Neil’s insufferably catchy “Everybody’s Talkin’” hums on the soundtrack.
Joe is confident and fearless, simple and childlike, but NYC isn’t all he hoped. Nothing of what he hoped. He’s a fish out of water. Shot from low angles, Manhattan appears more vertical and dwarfing than ever (Joe was the tallest structure back in Texas). This is Manhattan from a much scuzzier era: all neon vice and deviancy,...
“Where’s that Joe Buck?” the Texan locals ask. Here he is: it’s Jon Voight, a New Yorker playing a Deep Southern wannabe gigolo in flamboyant cowboy getup. Voight looks as pretty as his daughter playing the doe-eyed Joe, who ditches his grimy cafe job and sets off for the Big Apple to make a living sleeping with wealthy older women, while Fred Neil’s insufferably catchy “Everybody’s Talkin’” hums on the soundtrack.
Joe is confident and fearless, simple and childlike, but NYC isn’t all he hoped. Nothing of what he hoped. He’s a fish out of water. Shot from low angles, Manhattan appears more vertical and dwarfing than ever (Joe was the tallest structure back in Texas). This is Manhattan from a much scuzzier era: all neon vice and deviancy,...
- 5/25/2018
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
By Lee Pfeiffer
You don't have to be gay to admire John Schlesinger's 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday, but it probably helps in terms of appreciating just how ground-breaking the movie was in its day. As a straight guy of high school age when the film was released, I do remember it causing a sensation, although it would literally take me decades before I finally caught up with it. Gay friends always spoke reverently of the movie and expressed how the most refreshing aspect of the story was how "normally" a loving relationship between two adult men was portrayed. In viewing the film as a recent Criterion Blu-ray release, I feel I can finally appreciate that point of view. Gay men have long been portrayed in movies, of course, but for the most part they have been depicted as objects of ridicule or as sexual deviants. There were the odd...
You don't have to be gay to admire John Schlesinger's 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday, but it probably helps in terms of appreciating just how ground-breaking the movie was in its day. As a straight guy of high school age when the film was released, I do remember it causing a sensation, although it would literally take me decades before I finally caught up with it. Gay friends always spoke reverently of the movie and expressed how the most refreshing aspect of the story was how "normally" a loving relationship between two adult men was portrayed. In viewing the film as a recent Criterion Blu-ray release, I feel I can finally appreciate that point of view. Gay men have long been portrayed in movies, of course, but for the most part they have been depicted as objects of ridicule or as sexual deviants. There were the odd...
- 5/16/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Chicago – Relate the now iconic term “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” and most likely a off-tune rendering of the famous rock song by U2 will follow. But the title was originally expressed in director John Schlesinger’s groundbreaking film of 1971, “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” recently released on Blu-ray through The Criterion Collection.
Blu-ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
The film has notoriety because it featured the first same-sex kiss between men in movie history (Peter Finch and Murray Head), but put aside that then-shocking expression and there is a psychologically complex film about unresolved relationship issues and identity. The drama is exquisitely cast, set against a post-Swingin’ 1960s London, when it seemed like the whole culture was waking up with a hangover from all that social change. Peter Finch, best known for his final role in 1976 of the mad news anchorman in “Network,” anchors this film with a passionate communication of middle age in both progress and regress.
Blu-ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
The film has notoriety because it featured the first same-sex kiss between men in movie history (Peter Finch and Murray Head), but put aside that then-shocking expression and there is a psychologically complex film about unresolved relationship issues and identity. The drama is exquisitely cast, set against a post-Swingin’ 1960s London, when it seemed like the whole culture was waking up with a hangover from all that social change. Peter Finch, best known for his final role in 1976 of the mad news anchorman in “Network,” anchors this film with a passionate communication of middle age in both progress and regress.
- 11/12/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
It's important to not only view a film in the context of current societal norms, but when viewing older films it's just as important to think of them in the context of how it would have been perceived when it was originally released. This is easy enough when it comes to visual effects, but when it comes to societal norms and thematic material it's importance goes beyond what's visually believable. Released in 1971 on the heels of the unanticipated success of Midnight Cowboy, John Schlesinger's Sunday Bloody Sunday centers on a trio of Londoners. Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) is a middle-aged, Jewish doctor, Alex (Glenda Jackson) is a thirty-something divorcee and between the two is Bob (Murray Head), a young artist who is sleeping with both of them. Bob isn't keeping his love affair secret from either Daniel or Alex, both of which do their best to understand while craving his attention and affection.
- 10/24/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
By Allen Gardner
Prometheus (20th Century Fox) Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic “Alien” has an intergalactic exploratory team (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba) arriving on a uncharted planet, where they discover what appears to be a dormant alien spacecraft and what might be the first discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. Of course, everything goes straight to hell before you can scream “Don’t touch that egg!” Sumptuous visuals and strong performances from the cast (not to mention a nearly-perfect first half) can’t compensate for gaping plot and logic holes that nearly sink the proceedings in the film’s protracted second half. It feels as though some very crucial footage wound up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps, as with “Alien” and “Aliens” we’ll see a “Director’s Cut” of “Prometheus” arriving on DVD within the next year. In the meantime,...
Prometheus (20th Century Fox) Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic “Alien” has an intergalactic exploratory team (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba) arriving on a uncharted planet, where they discover what appears to be a dormant alien spacecraft and what might be the first discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. Of course, everything goes straight to hell before you can scream “Don’t touch that egg!” Sumptuous visuals and strong performances from the cast (not to mention a nearly-perfect first half) can’t compensate for gaping plot and logic holes that nearly sink the proceedings in the film’s protracted second half. It feels as though some very crucial footage wound up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps, as with “Alien” and “Aliens” we’ll see a “Director’s Cut” of “Prometheus” arriving on DVD within the next year. In the meantime,...
- 10/8/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 23, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Glenda Jackson stands between Peter Finch (l.) and Murray Head--or does she?--in Sunday Bloody Sunday.
British filmmaker John Schlesinger followed his Academy Award–winning 1969 film Midnight Cowboy with 1971’s Sunday Bloody Sunday, a sophisticated and highly personal drama about love and sex.
Sunday Bloody Sunday depicts the romantic lives of two Londoners—a middle-aged doctor (Peter Finch, Network) and a prickly thirty-something divorcée (Glenda Jackson, Women in Love) —who are sleeping with the same handsome young artist (Murray Head, TV’s Heartbeat).
Written by novelist and critic Penelope Gilliatt, the R-rated Sunday Bloody Sunday was considered to be quite a racy revelation way back when. Looking back on the film now, it’s definitely one of the 1970s’ most intelligent, multi-textured films about the complexities of romantic relationships.
The Criterion Blu-ray and DVD editions of the film contains...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Glenda Jackson stands between Peter Finch (l.) and Murray Head--or does she?--in Sunday Bloody Sunday.
British filmmaker John Schlesinger followed his Academy Award–winning 1969 film Midnight Cowboy with 1971’s Sunday Bloody Sunday, a sophisticated and highly personal drama about love and sex.
Sunday Bloody Sunday depicts the romantic lives of two Londoners—a middle-aged doctor (Peter Finch, Network) and a prickly thirty-something divorcée (Glenda Jackson, Women in Love) —who are sleeping with the same handsome young artist (Murray Head, TV’s Heartbeat).
Written by novelist and critic Penelope Gilliatt, the R-rated Sunday Bloody Sunday was considered to be quite a racy revelation way back when. Looking back on the film now, it’s definitely one of the 1970s’ most intelligent, multi-textured films about the complexities of romantic relationships.
The Criterion Blu-ray and DVD editions of the film contains...
- 7/20/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
For the first in this brief series of controversial films rated Nc-17, we’re going back to 1969, the year after the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) created the modern U.S. movie rating system. When Midnight Cowboy was released, there was no Nc-17 rating. Instead, filmmakers whose movies were deemed too adult for an R rating, were left with the option of an X rating, or none at all.
Since the rating system is voluntary, a filmmaker can always refuse a rating from the MPAA, but unrated films in the U.S. stand slim chance for commercial success. In 1969, the X rating hadn’t been commandeered by the porn industry yet, so rather than edit the film down to an R, compromising the artistic vision of the film, director John Schlessinger went with X.
The history surrounding this film really turns on Schlessinger’s integrity as a filmmaker. Schlessinger...
Since the rating system is voluntary, a filmmaker can always refuse a rating from the MPAA, but unrated films in the U.S. stand slim chance for commercial success. In 1969, the X rating hadn’t been commandeered by the porn industry yet, so rather than edit the film down to an R, compromising the artistic vision of the film, director John Schlessinger went with X.
The history surrounding this film really turns on Schlessinger’s integrity as a filmmaker. Schlessinger...
- 12/13/2010
- by Alice gray
- SoundOnSight
Jennifer Salt has the distinction of breaking into and succeeding in the competitive world of the entertainment industry twice. Her first go-round was as an actor, appearing in such classic films as "Midnight Cowboy" and starring as spoiled Eunice Tate on "Soap." But Salt says she eventually "lost the love" for acting and turned to writing, where she found even greater success. After seven seasons as a writer and producer on Ryan Murphy's "Nip/Tuck," Salt now finds her first produced screenplay hitting theaters Aug. 13. Co-written with Murphy, "Eat Pray Love" is an adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir about leaving her comfortable marriage and journeying to three countries—Italy, India, and Bali—to find herself. Salt, her own life marked with opportunities and coincidences, seemed destined to write the film. She was born in 1944 to actor Mary Davenport and screenwriter Waldo Salt, who survived the Hollywood blacklist and won two Academy Awards,...
- 8/4/2010
- backstage.com
The AP is reporting that director John Schlesinger has passed away at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California. Mr. Schlesinger was 77. Schlesinger was born in 1926 and spent the early part of his career as a bit actor. He then made a successful move behind the lens, becoming one of the "angry young men" associated with the Kitchen Sink school of British filmmaking, along with Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson. Schlesinger crafted the well-received Billy Liar, Darling, and Far from the Madding Crowd before making the film that brought him to prominence in America, Midnight Cowboy. Cowboy, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, remains the only X-rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture; it also garnered Schlesinger the Best Director nod, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay for Waldo Salt. Schlesinger never equaled the critical and popular success of Cowboy though he continued to make quality films over the years such as the violent thriller Marathon Man, the creepy suspense/horror film The Believers and the sublime satire Cold Comfort Farm. Schlesinger had suffered a debilitating heart attack in 2000 which led to declining health. He was removed from life support yesterday (Thursday, 7/24). Schlesinger lived the last 30 years in Palm Springs with his companion, photographer Michael Childers. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 7/25/2003
- IMDb News
The AP is reporting that director John Schlesinger has passed away at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California. Mr. Schlesinger was 77. Schlesinger was born in 1926 and spent the early part of his career as a bit actor. He then made a successful move behind the lens, becoming one of the "angry young men" associated with the Kitchen Sink school of British filmmaking, along with Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson. Schlesinger crafted the well-received Billy Liar, Darling, and Far from the Madding Crowd before making the film that brought him to prominence in America, Midnight Cowboy. Cowboy, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, remains the only X-rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture; it also garnered Schlesinger the Best Director nod, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay for Waldo Salt. Schlesinger never equaled the critical and popular success of Cowboy though he continued to make quality films over the years such as the violent thriller Marathon Man, the creepy suspense/horror film The Believers and the sublime satire Cold Comfort Farm. Schlesinger had suffered a debilitating heart attack in 2000 which led to declining health. He was removed from life support yesterday (Thursday, 7/24). Schlesinger lived the last 30 years in Palm Springs with his companion, photographer Michael Childers. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 7/25/2003
- WENN
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