Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenplay: Robert Getchell
Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry, Adrienne Corri
Country: USA
Year: 1974
Martin Scorsese delivered a follow up to his breakout success Mean Streets (1973) to silence the critics claiming he couldn’t direct women. The result is Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), a film that feels wholly different to the rest of the revered filmmakers bloody and edgy cannon of work.
Criterion is releasing the movie in a new 4K digital restoration. It’s essentially a US slice of life, kitchen sink style drama which follows a single-mum and widow as she travels across the states, from Socorro, New Mexico, to her childhood home in Monterey in California.
It’s a poingnant movie filled with lots of bittersweet and wholesome moments as protagonist Alice Hyatt must support herself and her son Tommy. It’s about people making the best of a bad situation, often with humour – just like how people in real life cope in a crisis.
The films real strength is showing the patriarchy of 1970s America and the challenges Alice faces, and how she manages to carve out her independence. It also has this dreamlike quality whenever Alice, a former lounge singer, performs a song or is recalling Monterey.
It stars Ellen Burstyn as Alice, also known for The Last Picture Show (1971), The Exorcist (1973) and Requiem for a Dream (2000). The actress deservedly won an Oscar for the role. She cried a lot in this movie, but each time it feels sincere and authentic. You really feel for Alice and her plight as Burstyn plays her with such a sense of angelic innocence.
Co-starring as Alice’s pre-teen son is Alfred Lutter as Tommy Hyatt. Again, very authentic in the role. For a young actor, he shows a lot of range. Over the course of the movie, I really felt like I bonded with this mother and son duo.
Other significant performances come from Jodie Foster, 11 years old at the time, who gives a very peculiar gruff performance. Harvey Keitel who is reliably menacing but again, feels real and authentic. And Kris Kristofferson whose performance feels multi-layered and sympathetic.
Sound and Vision
The new 4K digital restoration comes with Dolby Vision HDR, and was supervised and approved by director Martin Scorsese, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack.
The 4K image is stunning with sweeping visuals punctuated with colours of the period. Looking at Alice’s wardrobe alone, the bright pink waitress uniform, burnt orange, royal blue and emerald gowns, then there’s the décor of the era, ranging from muted greys, bland beige and rich reds. It’s a visual feast of 70s vintage.
The sound design is masterful with a dreamlike score which enhances the evocative elements of each scene. This comes into sharp focus when Alice is performing.
Film:
Special Features
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Martin Scorsese, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Audio commentary featuring Scorsese and actors Ellen Burstyn, Jodie Foster, Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd, and Alfred Lutter
- New conversation between Burstyn and film critic Farran Smith Nehme
- New interview with editor Marcia Lucas
- Making-of documentary featuring Burstyn and Kristofferson
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek
Audio commentary: Wonderful film commentary that jumps between Scorses and each of the actors involved. It was particularly great hearing Foster and Lutter speak about their experience on set as child stars. Scorsese explains why he went with this project, unlike any of his previous work. Burstyn also speaks in depth about how she got Scorsese involved.
Ellen Burstyn interview (24 mins): Excellent interview where Burstyn speaks about her influence on the project and managing to make it more of a true to life female centric tale, rather than a traditional romantic drama. She mentions when it was being made, it was around the time of the woman’s movement. There’s a lovely moment where she speaks of her real son’s appearance in the movie and a spicy moment when she speaks about her method acting. She goes into her own influences and fascinating career with some great clips and imagery complementing her stories.
Editor Marcia Lucas interview (19 mins): Fascinating interview about working as a woman in a male dominated industry in the 70s, and working with the great 70s filmmakers like Scorsese, Frances Ford Coppola and her husband George Lucas. She worked on some incredible projects. She was cutting the film while Lucas was working on the script for the orginal Star Wars (1977). 1970s film lovers will get a lot of this interview (she also speaks about working on Taxi Driver and Star Wars). Lucas also goes into great specifics about how she influenced the project. She died very recently , so it felt like a real privilege to hear her insights.
Making-of documentary (20 mins): Features some great interviews with Burstyn and Kristofferson from 2003. They’ve used the same audio on the commentary, so it works out well if you don’t have all the time for that. Some really poignant quotes from Kristofferson. There was some very amusing behind the scenes stories, especially one about the owners of the ranch house they shot part of the movie at. There was a great story about how they improvised the final scene with a great line from Kristofferson.
Disc/package:
Criterion releases Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 4k and Bluray on 27th July.