MCEG. Director John Boskovich; Producer Jonathan D. Krane; Screenplay Sandra Bernhard, John Boskovich; Camera Joseph Yacoe; Editor Pamela Malouf-Cundy; Music Patrice Rushen; Art Director Kevin Rupnik
Sandra Bernhard
Steven Antin
Lu Leonard
Sandra Bernhard's screen adaptation of her one-woman show is a rigorous, experimental examination of performance art. Stepping back from comedy per se, Bernhard and her collaborator, director John Boskovich, have fashioned a remote, self-absorbed and often cryptic picture.
Most ambitious device here is a failure: except for brief interstitial footage of 'witnesses' such as Steven Antin (as himself) or Lu Leonard (portraying Bernhard's manager) addressing the camera, film unfolds in performance on stage at a large, ersatz night club before a predominantly black audience. Crowd reacts only with silent, quizzical expressions or files out apparently not enjoying the show.
Pic's highlight underscores the material's emphasis on roleplaying and androgyny: a 1978-set 'I Feel Real' monolog/song with Bernhard pretending to be two guys in a disco, one of whom gets turned on by a black man and comes out of the closet. With helmer Boskovich letting loose his camera for once from its slow, monotonous pirouetting, scene is a showstopper.
(Color) Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1990. Running time: 90 MIN.
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