FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Mickey And Nicky


One of the great American indie films of the 70's - one of the forgotten masterpieces of its time! What is the best way to describe Elaine May's third film? It's a John Cassavetes movie, not by John Cassavetes. And a colossal flop, after which May should stop shooting for 11 years (to end up with an even bigger failure!). The cast alone: Cassavetes, probably the greatest American indie director and at his side, Peter Falk, without whom the Cassavetes films would be inconceivable! The highlight: May consumed more film material than any production ever before. She let the camera wander and circle, just like in a Cassavetes film. There is the joke that the camera was still moving when Cassavetes and Falk had long since left the set. May doesn't seem to have been an easy director, at least she forbids anyone but her "cut" to shout. In Mikey And Nicky everything seems improvised, no wonder that May supposedly wrote the dialogues overnight. The story doesn't stop there; on the contrary, the film lives exactly through it! Mikey And Nicky is a great comedy because of her characters! How they are written and embodied! Nick, a charmer, a No Good - always on the move. You think everyone's muscles are twitching all the time. Mick is exactly the opposite. His silent counterpart. The dialogues correspond to this, seem to constantly revolve around themselves and reflect this intimate relationship. Both talk like unemployed philosophers, like two pretty insane nerds. May has succeeded in making a unique film - especially because he treats the relationship between two ridiculous men so enjoyably. But also the female roles like Carol Grace's (the model Holly Golightlys!). And the camera keeps rushing through the action without us knowing exactly which "genre" Mikey And Nicky actually serves: A gangster comedy? But the gangster story stays in the background. A film noir? But only because most of the time it was shot at night. A character study? I don't think so. I really wanted to have the DVD for our film art bar Fitzcarraldo because of Cassavetes and Falk and Elaine May gives them both a lot to do!