Pitch black comedy about a young nihilistic New Yorker coping with pervasive urban violence, obscene phone calls, rusty water pipes, electrical blackouts, paranoia and ethnic-racial conflict... Read allPitch black comedy about a young nihilistic New Yorker coping with pervasive urban violence, obscene phone calls, rusty water pipes, electrical blackouts, paranoia and ethnic-racial conflict during a typical summer of the 1970s.Pitch black comedy about a young nihilistic New Yorker coping with pervasive urban violence, obscene phone calls, rusty water pipes, electrical blackouts, paranoia and ethnic-racial conflict during a typical summer of the 1970s.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Checkpoint Police Officer
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter seeing the film, Jean Renoir wrote to Alan Arkin, telling him "this film will never be forgotten".
- Quotes
Rev. Dupas: Why does one decide to marry? Social pressure? Boredom? Loneliness? Sexual appeasement? Love? I won't put any of these reasons down. Each in its own way is adequate, each is all right. Last year, I married a musician who wanted to get married in order to stop masturbating. Please, don't be startled, I'm not putting him down. That marriage did not work. But the man tried. He is now separated, still masturbating, but he is at peace with himself because he tried society's way.
- Alternate versionsOriginally rated 'R' when released in the U.S in 1971. In 1973 the film was cut to be re-rated 'PG' for a re-release.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Alan Arkin: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2015)
- SoundtracksSkating In Central Park
Composed by John Lewis
Performed by The Modern Jazz Quartet
Through the courtesy of United Artists Records, Inc.
While I found it less funny during a recent viewing than I remembered, the message was still disturbing and contemporary. It is certainly satire and black comedy, but you often lose yourself in the story. It is a very individual film, different people will laugh at different times and at different things. During a theater viewing it seemed to isolate audience members from each other.
Jules Feiffer's screenplay is about Alfred (Elliot Gould), a NYC photographer and self- described "apathist", sort of an unengaged existentialist. He is completely disillusioned and has deadened himself to the cries, smells, sights and pains of violent city living; in a Big Apple even more adversarial than that of "The Out-Of-Towners".
Alfred can't feel much anymore but he takes an interest in Patsy (Marcia Rodd), a controlling interior decorator optimist, who wants to change him. Patsy has been able to stay upbeat and involved despite daily encounters with muggers, snipers, obscene callers, and a family that leaves a lot to be desired.
The film seems to be saying that harsh urban life cuts its people off from gentler human emotion. As an interior decorator Patsy's life is largely defined by her ability to control her possessions and the attitudes of those around her.
Patsy's father, mother and younger brother are living a painful parody of "family life," and Alfred's weirdness eventually allows him to fit right in. The dinner scene where he first meets her family is one of the funniest in film history.
The film illustrates that neither apathy nor constructive engagement are successful mechanisms for coping with the modern world. It seems to be saying that the only rational response to living in an insane environment is to vigorously participate in the insanity.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
- aimless-46
- Jun 16, 2008
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Jules Feiffer's Little Murders
- Filming locations
- Brooklyn Boro Hall Court, New York City, New York, USA(courtroom sequence)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,340,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1