Documentary

LOVING HIGHSMITH

2022
1 HR, 23 min
OCT 7 → OCT 20, 2022

Details

Released September 2, 2022, Switzerland, Germany

Documentary

1 hour, 23 minutes

Zeitgeist Films

None

Starring

Patricia Highsmith

Director

Eva Vitija

Film Information

LOVING HIGHSMITH is a unique look at the life of celebrated American author Patricia Highsmith based on her diaries and notebooks and the intimate reflections of her lovers, friends and family. Focusing on Highsmith’s quest for love and her troubled identity, the film sheds new light on her life and writing. Most of Highsmith’s novels were adapted for the big screen; the best known of these are Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Carol, a partly autobiographic novel, was the first lesbian story with a happy ending to be published in 1950s America. But Highsmith herself was forced to lead a double life and had to hide her vibrant love affairs from her family and the public. Only in her unpublished writings did she reflect on her private life. Excerpts from these notes voiced by Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, Top of the Lake), beautifully interwoven with archive material of her and her most famous novel adaptions, create a vivid, touching portrait of one of the most fascinating female writers.

Full Cast

Patricia Highsmith

Additional Credits

Eva Vitija Director

Reviews

“In centering the writer’s sexuality in her lively and captivating documentary Loving Highsmith , filmmaker Eva Vitija does a great service not only to fans of Highsmith’s, but to all of queer history.”

Jude Dry

indieWire

“The documentary’s mosaic-like construction evokes Highsmith’s unusually complex triangle of literary drive, personal frustrations, and public image.”

Richard Broody

New Yorker

“Together, Highsmith’s former flames draw a compelling portrait of underground life in the mid 20th century, as we learn how each influenced the author both personally and professionally.”

Elizabeth Weitzman

TheWrap