You Are Not I
Sara Driver, 1981 | USA | English | Running time: 48m
6 October 2011, Walter Reade Theater
Masterworks
Writing credits: Paul Bowles (short story); Sara Driver: Jim Jarmusch
Original Music: Phil Kline
Cinematography: Jim Jarmusch
Cast includes: Suzanne Fletcher; Evelyn Smith; Luc Sante
“When I walked out of the gate after the accident.”
From the NYFF program:
A haunting adaptation of a 1948 short story by Paul Bowles about a woman who escapes from an asylum, You Are Not I played widely in the international film festival circuit in the early Eighties. Then, a leak in a New Jersey warehouse destroyed the negative, leaving director Sara Driver with only a battered, unprojectable copy. Miraculously, a print was found among the holdings of Paul Bowles in 2009 [preserved in bug spray] and now the film has been restored and is available once again. Undoubtedly one of the most impressive works to emerge from the post-punk downtown scene, the film was beautifully shot by Jim Jarmusch (who also co-wrote the screenplay) and features Suzanne Fletcher, Nan Goldin and Luc Sante.
Shot in six days on a $12,000 budget. A year and a half of editing. Concentrated on sound. Putting her budget there.
A woman wanders through scenes of destruction, placing stones in the mouths of corpses. Riding in a Gran Torino.
Her sister and her neighbors. Old women. Whispers.
The transmigration of souls.
Is there a direct line of influence from Sara Driver to Guy Madden?