All the Vermeers in New York

All the Vermeers in New York
Directed by Jon Jost
Produced by Jon Jost
Written by Jon Jost
Starring Emmanuelle Chaulet
Katherine Bean
Gordon Joseph Weiss
Stephen Lack
Music by Jon A. English
Cinematography Jon Jost
Edited by Jon Jost
Distributed by American Playhouse Theatrical Films
Release dates
 1990
Running time
 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English

All the Vermeers in New York is a 1990 American film written, directed and produced by Jon Jost.

Plot

Mark, a Wall Street financial broker, falls in love with a French actress at first sight, due to her resembling a Vermeer painting, and then proceeds to follow her from room to room in a museum. The broker goes up to the actress, Anna, and introduces himself which spawns a romantic relationship. Anna lives with two roommates — a wealthy woman and a female opera singer. As the relationship evolves, Mark dies from a cerebral hemorrhage while calling Anna. The film ends with Anna going into a Vermeer painting.

Production

Created as a tribute to Jost's father,[1] the film was also created with his love of Vermeer paintings in mind. This is one of his first films produced in 35mm.[2] Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times the film's purpose was to show art as the last bit of humanism in a world without love.[3] Marjorie Baumgarten, a writer for Austin Chronicle, called All the Vermeers in New York an experimental film.[2] Emanuel Levy wrote in Cinema of Outsiders that the film is a mix of "narrative and experimental cinema".[4]

Reception

At the Berlin International Film Festival in 1991, the film won the Caligari Film Award.[5] Roger Ebert reviewed the film, saying "When All the Vermeers in New York was over, I stayed for a moment in my seat because I didn't feel as if the film had ended. It got me involved, it got me intrigued, and my interior clock estimated that it would take another 30 minutes to conclude. And then it stopped."[6] Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly said that "Jost's influences may be foreign-film gods like Godard and Ozu, but he doesn't share their contemplative humanity, and what's left smells like art-house posturing."[7]

References

  1. ↑ Stuart Klawans (January 28, 1991). "All the Vermeers in New York. (HighBeam Research subscription)". The Nation. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Marjorie Baumgarten (June 19, 1992). "All the Vermeers in New York". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  3. ↑ Vincent Canby (1 May 1992). "All the Vermeers in New York". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  4. ↑ Levy, Emanuel (2001). Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film. NYU Press. p. 61. ISBN 9780814751244. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  5. ↑ Matthew Tobey. "All the Vermeers in New York (1990)". Allmovie. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ Roger Ebert (May 1, 1992). "All The Vermeers In New York". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  7. ↑ Ty Burr (November 20, 1992). "All the Vermeers in New York (1992)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 23, 2012.

External links