Opening Night

+ intro by Katie McCabe, Reviews Editor at Sight and Sound

Haunted by death and terrified of ageing, a fragile star stumbles towards opening night, where grief, booze and brilliance collide – and the stage demands she survive it.

  • Director

    John Cassavetes

  • With

    Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, Joan Blondell, Paul Stewart

  • USA 1977. 144min

  • Digital

  • Certificate

    15

Cassavetes’ celebrated drama follows Rowlands’ Myrtle Gordon, a revered stage actress and functioning alcoholic, just days before a Broadway premiere. When a fan dies attempting to follow her limousine, Myrtle’s way of dealing with the trauma is to question notions of age, identity and purpose. As grief and rehearsal collide, she drifts toward a breakdown. But the show must go on.

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