Film Screening: The Comfort of Strangers
A special screening in support of the exhibition "Terry O'Neill, Stars"
About the event
Adapting the acclaimed novel by Ian McEwan, playwright and screenwriter Harold Pinter lends his trademark unnerving dialogue and air of creeping menace to this spellbinding study of power, control, and the frighteningly thin line between pleasure and pain. Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson are the prey, a beautiful British couple working on their relationship while on holiday in Venice; Christopher Walken and Helen Mirren are the hunters who draw them into the sinister web of their opulent, old-world palazzo. What plays out is an unsettling, sadomasochistic seduction imbued with an atmosphere of sumptuous dread by the elegantly gliding tracking shots of cinematographer Dante Spinotti, lush score by Angelo Badalamenti, and carefully controlled direction of Paul Schrader, who choreographs a mesmerizing pas de quatre of sustained erotic and emotional tension.
Runtime: 104 minutes
Movies were integral to Terry O’Neill’s life both personally and professionally. He grew up in post-war London where radio and two black-and-white TV channels were the only entertainment available, unless you could afford the cinema and dance halls. However, as his career exploded and Hollywood came calling for his services on set, Terry said “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.” Joining his pals Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine on the set of Mona Lisa – one of his all time favorite movies – was just another gig in which O’Neill not only worked but carried his camera into the inner sanctum of stardom.
Screening rights courtesy Janus Films. Founded in 1956, Janus Films was the first theatrical distribution company dedicated to bringing international art-house films to U.S. audiences.
More Summer Screenings (Every Wednesday at 7 PM!)
July 12th: Mona Lisa (https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/events/film-screening-mona-lisa/)
July 19th: A Hard Day’s Night (https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/events/film-screening-a-hard-days-night/)
July 26th: Buena Vista Social Club (https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/events/film-screening-buena-vista-social-club/)
August 2nd: L’Avventura (https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/?post_type=events&p=11376&preview=true)
August 9th: 8 1/2 (https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/?post_type=events&p=11384&preview=true)
August 16th: The Comfort Of Strangers (https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/?post_type=events&p=11392&preview=true)