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Conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and Linda Rosenkrantz from 1974 sheds light on New York's vibrant downtown art world and the introspective journey of an artist's life. (NR, 76 min.)
(TBD)
In 1974, acclaimed photographer Peter Hujar describes the routines and rituals that define an artist's life to his friend, the writer Linda Rosenkrantz, capturing a single day's activities in touching and funny detail: from interactions with cultural icons of the day, including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Susan Sontag, to the texture and energy of downtown New York in its heyday. Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall star in the elegant and intimate new piece from filmmaker Ira Sachs (Passages) — a dazzling showcase for the two performers at its centre — that is both a masterful portrait of a time & place and a captivating film about the way art emerges from the intimate details of everyday life. [Janus]
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Ben Whishaw
Director: Ira Sachs
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
"A masterpiece."
— Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine (Vulture)
"In its tiny-scaled staged-documentary way, Peter Hujar’s Day is exquisitely done and arresting to watch."
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
"Peter Hujar’s Day captures something beautifully distilled about human experience and the comfort of others."
— Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
"Peter Hujar’s Day is a monument to the thrillingly mundane minutiae of living. I found it almost indescribably moving."
— Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle
"The result is a charming experiment that should delight those who like their pleasures both nostalgic and voyeuristic."
— Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times
"The little things, the random asides and minor revelations, are just as powerful as the star-studded namedrops during this extensive conversation."
— Natalia Keogan, The A.V. Club
"How does a transcript of a conversation become a movie? Sachs is searchingly in pursuit of the answer to that question, but what he has captured here is oddly wrenching and moving."
— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire
"With Sachs’ painterly compositions and Whishaw’s deceptively effortless performance, 'Peter Hujar’s Day' is a surprisingly beautiful and subtle tribute to the balancing act it takes to be a working artist."
— Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com
"Running only 76 minutes, the movie is a veristic and voluble delight, an exercise in eavesdropping on a pair of smart, funny people who wear posterity—there’s a tape recorder running, after all—with wry lightness."
— Zachary Barnes, Wall Street Journal
"Directed by Sundance veteran Ira Sachs, Peter Hujar’s Day takes an extended conversation between talented, creative friends and elevates it to the realm of both first-rate voyeurism and the second-hand high of reliving a lost era."
— David Fear, Rolling Stone
"Sachs manages to keep the frame dynamic without distracting from the engaging performances of Whishaw as Peter Hujar and Rebecca Hall as Linda Rosenkrantz. What results is an intimate encapsulation of a queer artist’s life from a bygone era of creative vibrancy."
— Kent M. Wilhelm, The Film Stage
"Poetic in its simplicity yet crafted with as meticulous attention to detail as Hujar’s reflections on his day, this is a singular meditation on the life of an influential artist for whom major recognition came only after his death. It has the feel of a rare find plucked from a dusty archive."
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
