''All the Vermeers in New York'' is a 1990 American film written, directed and produced by

Jon Jost Jon Stephen Jost (born 16 May 1943 in Chicago) is an American independent filmmaker. Born in Chicago to a military family, he grew up in Georgia, Kansas, Japan, Italy, Germany and Virginia. He began making films in January 1963 after being expel ...

Plot

Mark, a Wall Street financial broker, falls in love with a French actress at first sight, due to her resembling a Vermeer painting, and then proceeds to follow her from room to room in a museum. The broker goes up to the actress, Anna, and introduces himself which spawns a romantic relationship. Anna lives with two roommates — a wealthy woman and a female opera singer. As the relationship evolves, Mark dies from a cerebral hemorrhage while calling Anna. The film ends with Anna going into a Vermeer painting.

Production

The film was created with his love of Vermeer paintings as a central organizing theme. This is one of his first films produced in 35mm. Vincent Canby wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' the film's purpose was to show art as the last bit of humanism in a world without love. Marjorie Baumgarten, a writer for ''

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'', called ''All the Vermeers in New York'' an experimental film.

Emanuel Levy Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema ...

wrote in ''Cinema of Outsiders'' that the film is a mix of "narrative and experimental cinema".

Reception

At the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

in 1991, the film won the Caligari Film Award for "thematic or stylistic innovation in film in the Forum of New Cinema section of the festival". Roger Ebert reviewed the film, saying "When ''All the Vermeers in New York'' was over, I stayed for a moment in my seat because I didn't feel as if the film had ended. It got me involved, it got me intrigued, and my interior clock estimated that it would take another 30 minutes to conclude. And then it stopped." Ty Burr of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' said that "Jost's influences may be foreign-film gods like Godard and Ozu, but he doesn't share their contemplative humanity, and what's left smells like art-house posturing."

References

External links

*
1991 Sundance Film Festival description
*. Artventure TV introduces the film and interviews Jon Jost. {{Johannes Vermeer, state=collapsed 1990 films American independent films Films set in New York City Works about Johannes Vermeer 1990 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films