''Judy Berlin'' is a 1999 American independent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Eric Mendelsohn Eric Mendelsohn (born November 1, 1964) is an American film director and screenwriter. Biography Two of his films have been screened in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes: '' Through an Open Window'' in 1992 and '' Judy Berlin'' in 1999., ...

. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

1999 Cannes Film Festival The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 1999. Canadian filmmaker, actor and author David Cronenberg was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the French– Belgian film ''Rosetta'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The festi ...

. Mendelsohn won the directing prize for ''Judy Berlin'' at the 1999 Sundance International Film Festival. This was Madeline Kahn's final film appearance eleven months before her death on December 3, 1999.

Plot

Told in a series of vignettes, the film opens on the morning of the second day of school. Principal Arthur Gold (

Bob Dishy Bob Dishy is an American actor of stage, film, and television. Biography He is best remembered today for playing Sergeant John J. Wilson, Columbo's polite, respectful assistant in two episodes of ''Columbo'' ("Now You See Him" and "The Greenho ...

) is married to Alice ( Madeline Kahn), although interaction between them immediately hints that the union is unhappy. Alice babbles frequently, much to Arthur’s chagrin. Their son David (Aaron Harnick), who is thirty, is depressed after a failed attempt at being a Hollywood filmmaker. The school Arthur runs is employed by down-and-out teacher Sue Berlin (

Barbara Barrie Barbara Barrie (born Barbara Ann Berman; May 23, 1931) is an American actress and author. Her film breakthrough came in 1964 with her performance as Julie in the landmark film ''One Potato, Two Potato'', for which she won the Best Actress Awar ...

), who prepares her children to view the upcoming solar eclipse, secretary Bea (

Anne Meara Anne Meara Stiller (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer ...

), lunch lady Marie (

Julie Kavner Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an American actress. Best known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', Kavner first attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younge ...

), who discuss dreams and astrology, and bus driver Ceil ( Judy Graubart). At the center of the story is aspiring actress Judy Berlin (

Edie Falco Edith Falco (born July 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Carmela Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), and Nurse Jackie Peyton on the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015). She also ...

), who is Sue’s daughter. Unlike many of the characters in the film, she is upbeat, excitable and enthusiastic. While on a walk, David runs into Judy, where they meet up again after having gone to high school together. Judy discusses her big plans for Hollywood and is overjoyed to hear David is a filmmaker. He refuses to tell her about his failure. During class, while her students are making paper cut outs in order to view the eclipse, Dolores Engler ( Bette Henritze) wanders into the classroom and asks the children to look outside. Although a seemingly pleasant woman, she shows symptoms of dementia, as she is forgetful and emotionally imbalanced. When Sue asks her to leave, Dolores hits her and is removed from the classroom. David goes and visits the town’s historical society, where Judy is working as a museum demonstrator. She tells him she hates her job and then asks him out to lunch. As they eat, they discuss their dreams of filmmaking, where David says he hopes to make a documentary about a town similar to where they live. Judy is disillusioned by this. Arthur goes and checks on Sue, who at first assures him she’s fine before breaking down, and saying she will not play games, hinting at her romantic interest in him. He also appears to be interested romantically in her. The solar eclipse begins to occur, and the landscape takes on an ethereal, dreamlike appearance. Alice is greatly moved by the eclipse, and takes her cleaning lady Carol (

Novella Nelson Novella Christine Nelson (December 17, 1939 – August 31, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She established her career as a singer, both on the off-Broadway and Broadway stage and in cabaret-style locales. Career Starting in 1961, Nels ...

), on a walk, calling out to her neighbors in ghostly moans and pretending to walk on the moon. She stops by neighbor Maddie’s ( Carlin Glynn) house to see her refurbished kitchen, to which Maddie informs Alice that she thought they were not on good terms after Alice called her months ago in a rage. Alice does not recall this incident, hinting that Alice might have a form of dementia herself. Then they see Arthur arrive home, before he hurries back to the school. Alice declares cryptically that her husband has left her. As the eclipse reaches totality, Sue dismisses her class and Arthur visits her again, where they share a brief kiss. Judy and David continue their walk, where they reminisce over high school and Judy admits she had a crush on David due to his quiet, misanthropic nature. They come to a playground where Judy sings an old childhood riddle as she frolicks among the equipment. When they return to the museum, David kisses Judy and then, seeing her unaffected by it, denounces her dreams of Hollywood by telling her the competitive nature of the film industry. Judy is disheartened and runs away. Alice and Carol continue their walk, until Carol is relieved of duty and drives off. Alice meets up with Mr. V ( Peter Appel), who tells her of an upcoming appointment. Alice continues on, giving a monologue that shows her disconnect to reality and also her love for Arthur. Undeterred by David, Judy plans to leave on train for

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. David catches her and apologizes and admits to hating goodbyes. Judy tells him that she will star in one of his movies someday and then boards the train and leaves. Alice and Arthur greet each other quietly in the streets, and Sue catches Dolores wandering around and tells her that everything will be alright, as the sun begins to show itself again, ending the film.

Cast

as Suzan "Sue" Berlin *

as Arthur Gold *

as Judy Berlin * Carlin Glynn as Maddie * Aaron Harnick as David Gold * Bette Henritze as Dolores Engler * Madeline Kahn as Alice Gold *

as Marie *

as Bea *

as Carol * Peter Appel as Mr. V. * Marcia DeBonis as Lisa *

Glenn Fitzgerald Glenn Fitzgerald (born December 21, 1971) is an American actor of stage, film, and television. Career His film roles have included Homicide Detective Anderson in Kathryn Bigelow's ''Detroit''; Lonnie, the son of Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin's ch ...

as Tour guide * Marcus Giamatti as Eddie Dillon * Judy Graubart as Ceil

References

External links

* * * {{Amg title, 176015 1999 films 1999 drama films American drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by Eric Mendelsohn American independent films Films set in New York (state) 1999 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links