Girlfriends

In "Girlfriends," first-time writer-director Claudia Weill created a compelling depiction of a woman look at a woman growing, awkwardly and not without pain, into her adult life--that is, the life of an independent woman and artist in New York City. This film also offers what is inarguably one of cinema's most honest and insightful looks at the complex bonds between women, detailing with extraordinary sensitivity (and bits of quirky humor) the shifts, both small and seismic, that occur when one of the halves of a sustaining heterosexual female friendship effectively "leaves" to get married. The cinema verite quality one finds here may be in part a reflection of the tight budget and inexperience of a novice filmmaker, but it also gives the film an utterly compelling texture, something of the raw, uneven fabric of real life. Melanie Mayron (later "Melissa" on the ABC-TV series "ThirtySomething") gives an earnest, convincing, and touching portrayal of budding photographer Susan Weinblatt, a twenty-something woman learning to find her balance, to be true to herself, navigate a welter of complicated relationships, to deal with both loneliness and intimacy, and to come into her own as an artist. The film includes wonderful turns by Eli Wallach, playing the rabbi who oversees the bar mitzvahs Susan photo, and Viveca Lindfors as a New York gallery owner.

When Susan's housemate gets married and moves out, Susan (Anita Mayron) realizes she's on her own now. At a party, she meets up with "Eric", played by Christopher Guest, in an early role. She's a photographer, taking bar mitzvah pictures to pay the bills. Bob Balaban is in here also, as the husband of the housemate, Anne ( Anita Skinner) . Pretty slow moving. Was expecting a bit more humor or something to jazz it up, but it DOES have a touch of the 70s hippie flare to it. LOTS of talking. Susan talks about everything before and after she does it. Sort of a month in the life of... story. Comparison of single-life versus married life. Some artsy fartsy art gallery commentary. And I love the NYC street scenes. It's very Woody-Allen-Ish. Directed by Claudia Weill, who directed a whole lot of TV stuff. This one was featured as part of the "Women in Film" week on Turner Classics. Some nudity.

Susan Weinblatt (Melanie Mayron) is a struggling photographer hoping to stop doing weddings and such. She lives with aspiring writer best friend Anne Munroe in New York City. They are moving into a new apartment when Anne tells Susan that she's marrying Martin (Bob Balaban). Susan struggles professionally and personally. She's lonely with less of her best friend. She takes in hitchhiker Ceil and has an aborted fling with Rabbi Gold (Eli Wallach).

It's a New York indie about the single modern girl. It's not a sitcom where the cute blonde just can't find Prince Charming. It's more truthful and yearning than that. Her need to find her place in the modern world is palpable. Mayron has a great sense of a New York girl. The visual work is a bit flat which is excusable for an indie. Eric is a bit of a frustrating nothing. I'd rather have more awkward drama with Rabbi Gold or Ceil. The plot unfolds rather than builds drama.

I came across Girlfriends after reading a list of Stanley Kubrick's favorite films, and he rightly called it 'wonderful'. Shot in New York in the late 70's, when master filmmakers such as Cassavetes, Scorsese and Woody Allen ruled the cities screens Weill's film went largely ignored and her brilliant lead actress never went on to make another film except for a small role in a B sci-fi thriller.

There is an obvious kinship between Weill's style and that of Woody Allen - the nervous Jewish humor, the wit and sharp dialog, but Girlfriends omits the irony and stands on its own as a singular, intelligent story of friendship and troubled relationships told from a uniquely female perspective.

Sadly it is very hard to see this film today, No streaming service carries it, and Kim's New York just shut its doors for good. I bought a poor transfer on DVD. I hope Criterion gets around to it one day, because it is truly a wonderful film.

Although several reviewers state that that this film is very difficult to find or view, it is included in Turner Classic Movie's extensive library, so it should turn up there from time to time. I highly recommend "tcm on demand" which allows viewers a specific time frame in which to see films, and, thankfully, tcm has expanded these time periods for many, but not all, of the films.

Having personally experienced the New York City singles scene for a very brief period of my life during the 1980's, not a very happy time for me, I admit that I was not inclined to watch this film based on the description alone, but I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity of the characters, their relationships, and the quality of the acting. The only reason why I was drawn to it was to see Eli Wallach in the unexpected portrayal as a rabbi, not knowing that this was not his only appearance in a movie as a rabbi. I have only known him as sleazy, unsavory characters, roles which he mastered beautifully on many occasions. As it turns out, Rabbi Gold does not guide the spiritual fulfillment of the central character, Susan Weinblatt (Melanie Mayron), as much as providing her with a livelihood as a photographer of life events and, eventually, the promise of a risky, romantic relationship, at least for a moment. This is not at all the rabbi that I expected, and I would have liked more Wallach as his role was not very prominent in spite of his high billing.

Both Mayron and Anita Skinner produce fine performances. I couldn't, however, appreciate the male characters, who were very disagreeable to me, perhaps not by accident. Mayron's memorable film debut occurred four years earlier as the young, free-spirited hitch-hiker in "Harry and Tonto", a very different person than Susan Weinblatt, which attests to her excellent acting skills.