DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY
This is not a documentary about the making of Midnight Cowboy. It is about a humane and groundbreaking masterpiece and the flawed but gifted people who made it. It is about a troubled era of cultural ferment, social and political change, about broken dreams and strivers, then and now. It is about an era that made a movie and a movie that made an era.
SYNOPSIS
A half century after its release, Midnight Cowboy remains one of the most original and groundbreaking movies of the modern era. With beguiling performances from Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman as two loners who join forces out of desperation, blacklist survivor Waldo Salt’s brilliant screenplay, and John Schlesinger’s fearless direction, the 1969 film became the only X-rated film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Its vivid and compassionate depiction of a more realistic, unsanitized New York City and its inhabitants paved the way for a generation’s worth of gritty movies with complex characters and adult themes.
But this is not a documentary about the making of Midnight Cowboy: it is about the deeply gifted and flawed people behind a dark and difficult masterpiece; New York City in a troubled time of cultural ferment; and the era that made a movie and the movie that made an era. Featuring extensive archival material and compelling new interviews, director Nancy Buirski illuminates how one film captured the essence of a time and a place, reflecting a rapidly changing society with striking clarity.
Director
Nancy Buirski
WITH
Bob Balaban, Michael Childers, Brian De Palma, J. Hoberman, Adam Holender, Charles Kaiser, Jennifer Salt
Run Time
1 hour, 41 minutes
Released
June 23, 2023
Distributed by
Zeitgeist Films
HEARING AND VISUAL ASSISTANCE
Assisted Listening
Country
United States
SUBTITLES
None
NOT RATED
Many of the films shown at The Ross are not rated due to the prohibitive cost of acquiring a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. Consequently, as many of these films contain graphic content, viewer discretion is advised.
SHOWINGS
JULY 21 | FRI
4:50, 7:00, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 22 | SAT
12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:00, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 23 | SUN
12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:00, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 24 | MON
4:50, 7:00, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 25 | TUE
4:50, 7:00, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 26 | WED
4:50, 7:00, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 27 | THU
4:50, 7:00, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 28 | FRI
4:50, 9:15 p.m
JULY 29 | SAT
2:40, 7:00 p.m.
JULY 30 | SUN
12:30, 4:50, 9:15 p.m.
JULY 31 | MON
7:00 p.m.
AUG 1 | TUE
4:50, 9:15 p.m.
AUG 2 | WED
7:00 p.m.
AUG 3 | THU
4:50, 9:15 p.m.
REVIEWS
“Burski eloquently conveys the impeccable (but unpredictable) alchemy of the production by underscoring, with frequency, how much of its brilliance was an accidental confluence, how its specific magic was the right combination of people, events, and timing.”
“Perhaps the most explicit and emotionally intense film of the New Hollywood era — and yet in its “Odd Couple” theme and wistful sensibility a profoundly Old Hollywood film, too — “Midnight Cowboy” remains littered with contradictions. Gay and tender, its representation of sex is vile. It’s nostalgic and hopeless; a celebration of the counter-culture and, seemingly, an indictment of its decadence. All that makes Nancy Buirski’s new documentary about its production and legacy more interesting.”
“Still, though, any festival or retrospective event would love to show Desperate Souls to cinephiles and anyone interested in a time — the late 1960s — when a big studio like United Artists would back a bracing, queer—themed, fiercely independent-spirited film written and directed by two closeted gay men (Schlesinger, and the writer of the book in which Midnight Cowboy was based, James Leo Herlihy).”
TICKET INFORMATION
EVENING PRICES
$12.00 | Adults
$9.50 | Students
$8.75 | Children
$8.50 | Military
$8.75 | Seniors
$6.50 | Members
$5.00 | UNL Students
MATINEE PRICES
$10.00 | Adults
$9.00 | Students
$8.25 | Children
$8.00 | Military
$8.25 | Seniors
$6.00 | Members
$5.00 | UNL Students
Matinee priced tickets for all screenings TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY nights
- Showtimes change on a regular basis and will not always be the same each day. Visit the individual film pages for a list of showtimes.
- Children are 12 and under. Seniors are 60 and older
- Students and Military must show a valid ID to receive discount
- We accept cash, check, NCard, Visa, and Mastercard
- The Ross Box Office opens 30 minutes before the first screening of the day
- Assistive listening headsets and closed caption devices available for select titles. Check the individual film pages or inquire at the box office for details.