Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Heaven Knows What (2014) - Safdie brothers impress with hard-hitting New York-set homeless addict drama

1/29/2024

Heaven Knows What (2014) - Safdie brothers impress with hard-hitting New York-set homeless addict drama

♥♥♥♥

An ominous horizontally slanted still of star Arielle Holmes in pink and blue makes up this poster for Benny and Josh Safdie's Heaven Knows What

A young female heroin addict gets pressured to the brink of suicide by her addict boyfriend, but she still maintains her destructive bond with him.

Heaven Knows What is written by co-writer/co-editor Ronald Bronstein (Uncut Gems (2019)), co-writer/co-star Arielle Holmes (American Honey (2016)) and co-writer/co-director Josh Safdie (The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008)), based on Holmes' unpublished memoir Mad Love in New York City, and co-directed with co-director/co-editor Benny Safdie. It is the New-Yorker master filmmaker brothers Safdie's 5th feature.

A frighteningly authentic and unadorned portrait of the flat, restricted, deeply inhibited life of big city heroin addicts, Heaven Knows What sensationally uses Holmes and other real homeless and ex-homeless amateur actors successfully in its hard depiction of their lives. The plot, fittingly enough, is also quite flat. Caleb Landry Jones (Twin Peaks (2017, TV-series)) is impressively credible as the egocentric boyfriend Ilya.

The Safdies (and cinematographer Sean Price Williams (The Sweet East (2023))) have a sure-handed, very New York-flavored, crude aesthetic here that is already well established. The film's strong score (by Paul Grimstad (Stinking Heaven (2015)) and Ariel Pink (TFW NO GF (2020, doc.))) helps us into the addicts' lives. Heaven Knows What is an incredible work.

Benny and Josh Safdie: Good Time (2017) - The Safdies cook up a perfect heist thriller frenzy

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown, projected 100k $

Box office: 84k $

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.84 times the cost)

[Heaven Knows What premiered 29 August (Venice Film Festival) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place in New York. The film opened #52 to a 16k $ first weekend in North America, its highest chart position domestically, where it topped out in 14 theaters and grossed 80k $ (95.2 % of the total gross). Its only other registered markets are from the UK and Brazil, although it was also released in France, Germany and Japan, aside from a long list of festival screenings. If made on a tiny 100k $, the film would rank as a huge flop. It additionally made an estimated 186k $ on the North-American home video market alone. It was nominated for 2 Independent Spirit awards and an AFI award, among other honors. The Safdie brothers returned with Good Time (2017). Holmes returned in 2307: Winter's Dream (2016). Heaven Knows What is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heaven Knows What?

No comments:

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

1/29/2024

Heaven Knows What (2014) - Safdie brothers impress with hard-hitting New York-set homeless addict drama

No comments:

Post a Comment

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

My Blog List