The trailblazing Joan Micklin Silver—one of only five women to direct a film for a Hollywood studio in the 1970s—digs fearlessly into the psychology of a thorny relationship in this anti–romantic comedy, based on Ann Beattie’s best-selling novel, about lovelorn civil servant Charles (John Heard) and his married-but-separated coworker Laura (Mary Beth Hurt). Months after their affair has ended, Charles is haunted by memories as he desperately attempts to rekindle a love that perhaps never was. Switching deftly between past and present, Micklin Silver guides this piercing deconstruction of male wish-fulfillment fantasy beyond standard movie-romance tropes into something more complicated and cuttingly truthful.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
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New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
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New program featuring producers Griffin Dunne, Mark Metcalf, and Amy Robinson
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Documentary from 1983 by Katja Raganelli about director Joan Micklin Silver
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Excerpts of a 2005 interview with Micklin Silver
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Original ending of the film, cut by Micklin Silver for its rerelease in 1982
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Trailer
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English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
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PLUS: An essay by scholar Shonni Enelow
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New cover by Marc Aspinall
FILM INFO
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United States
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1979
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95 minutes
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Color
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1.85:1
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English
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Spine #1176