Personal Problems

Bill Gunn's 1980 American film follows a nurse living in Harlem. The tension between her husband, her father-in-law and her lover gives the film its frame. The production describes itself as an experimental soap opera. The scenes are long and open to improvisation; the narrative produces no resolution and leaves the characters' ordinary talk as it is. It was shot on video and made for television, and never broadcast. Ishmael Reed contributed to the writing. The film was long considered lost before it was restored. Who it's for: viewers of independent American cinema and formal experiment. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a technically clean production; the picture and sound are of the video of that period.