Fish believes he is constantly fighting the devil and Poinsettia is in mourning over her imagined romance with the composer Puccini. Thus begins a peculiar love affair under the strict watchful eye of Mrs. Muldroone, the owner of the building where they reside and in charge of keeping an eye on them. Charles Burnett's film, which was censored and forgotten in its day due to destructive criticism, saw its restoration premiered at the Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna. This touching story of two elderly men trying to battle loneliness and illness to find purpose in their later years stars Lynn Redgrave, winner of two Golden Globes, and the recently deceased James Earl Jones, iconic voice of Darth Vader and winner of an Oscar and several Emmys. A warm, tragicomedy couple's tale that witnesses with unique touches of humour the celebration of life in its most human sense, sharing what little is left of oneself with each other.
Charles Burnett
Filmmaker born in Vicksburg (Mississippi) in 1944.He studied creative writing at UCLA before entering the University’s graduate film program. His thesis project, ‘Killer of Sheep’ (1977), received the Critics’ award at the Berlin Festival in 1981 and was premiered in Spain in 1982 as part of a retrospective of American Independent Film organized by Seminci. That film and ‘To Sleep With Anger’ (1990) were both named to the US National Film Registry. In 1988, he was awarded the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowiship (‘genius grant’), and in 2018 he was awarded the Honorary Oscar.His television works include ‘Nightjohn’ (1996), ‘Selma, Lord, Selma’ (1999), an episode of the seven-part series ‘Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues’ (2003) and ‘Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property’ (2003), among others. After its premiere at the Toronto Festival in 1999, ‘The Annihilation of Fish’ remained missing for a quarter of a century.
Copy from Kona Lorber courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Milestone Films at Roundabout Entertainment, FotoKem, Audio Mechanics e Simon Daniel Sound laboratories, from the original 35mm and soundtrack negatives. Funding provided by Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Special thanks to Charles Burnett, John Demps, Dennis Doros, Amy Heller.
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