Grief (Glatzer, 1993): ICA Cinema, 2pm
This is a 16mm presentation in the Celluloid on Sunday strand at the ICA.
Time Out review:
'There are many ways to tell a story, realism is just the most dull.' That, at any rate, is the ethos of the writers of The Love Judge,
a TV show set in a California divorce court. Here circus lesbians vie
with schizophrenic opera divas and stripper nuns for truth, justice and
alimony. The writers' lot seems mundane in comparison, though these
maladjusted under-achievers are a colourful group: Mark (Chester) is
still grieving for his lover who died a year ago of AIDS, but he's in
with a chance for a production job and is besotted with Bill (Arquette).
Jeremy (Wilborn) says Bill's a lost cause, and Leslie (Douglas) agrees
with him; she prefers Ben, the photocopy repairman. Meanwhile, the boss,
Jo (Beat), is incensed to find her new sofa despoiled with sperm stains
every morning. While Glatzer's debut boasts a good number of campy,
enjoyable scenes (notably 'extracts' from The Love Judge featuring the likes of Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov) and a stand-out performance from Jackie Beat,
it's a surprisingly well structured, carefully nuanced affair (taking
place over a working week, and, except in the extracts, never leaving
the office). A genuinely moving comedy.
Tom Charity
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