Girlfriends

Susan is trying to become a photographer in New York. Anne, the friend she has been sharing a flat with for years, gets married and moves out, and Susan has to hold the flat alone. The film follows what comes next: finding work, the rent, temporary relationships, putting a portfolio together, and how the friendship with Anne changes. Claudia Weill directs, in her first feature. Melanie Mayron plays Susan and Anita Skinner plays Anne. The production history is part of the story. Weill came from documentary and began the film as a short, funded by grants and small sums; as the material grew it became a feature, and it took years to finish. The subject was unusual for its moment. American cinema in the seventies had almost nothing that put a friendship between women at the centre, pushed romance to second place, and made a woman's professional effort the main event. Stanley Kubrick praised it and called it one of the best American films of the period, an assessment that shaped its later reputation. It was hard to find for a long time and only returned to circulation through restoration. It is now regarded as a founding film of American independent cinema. Who it is for: viewers who like seventies New York independents and films built on friendship. Who it is not for: the technical quality is poor, the plot is thin, and the film ends without arriving anywhere.