DIRECTED BY ELAINE MAY: A FERAL FILMOGRAPHY
A comedy innovator, a pioneering female director, accomplished screenwriter, trusted script doctor, and seasoned actress, Elaine May is one of the film industry’s most notorious and celebrated renegades. As the only woman directing for a major Hollywood studio in the 1970s, she is the original badass female director, having incited the wrath of Hollywood executives with her unrelenting commitment to her own process. Her ‘70s directorial works are masterpieces, and one–The Heartbreak Kid–is considered one of the most notoriously unavailable films of all time. NOT ANYMORE! To mark the occasion of The Heartbreak Kid’s long-awaited re-issue, the Revue celebrates a living legend with her four incomparable directorial works every Sunday in August!
Retrospective generously sponsored by Hollywood Suite
Elaine May’s notorious crime drama is a relentless, neglected neo-noir masterpiece of the 1970s American New Wave. Featuring colossal performances from Peter Falk and John Cassavetes as the film’s titular duo, Mikey and Nicky expanded May’s wheelhouse into hardboiled, psychological drama and away from comedy. Set in the streets of Philadelphia, Mikey must bail Nicky out of trouble when the latter steals money from a mob boss. Contending with Nicky’s drug-fuelled paranoia and with a hitman (Ned Beatty) on their trail, the two confront the substantial anxieties and toxicities implicated within their lifelong friendship. Using three cameras and shooting three times the footage as Gone With the Wind, May exceeded the budget of the film by more than double, inciting the ire of Paramount who refused to support the film. As a result, it was long undervalued. Indebted to the filmmaking of Cassavetes, May’s unconventional production process produced a free-form masterpiece that simmers with brooding testosterone induced hubris.
Digital Presentation courtesy of Julian Schlossberg and Jumer Productions Inc.
Co-presented by Neon Dreams Cinema Club
Generously sponsored by Hollywood Suite