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Rating: 
Summary: A bold, experimental film rescued from "oblivion"
Review: "Coming Apart" is shot almost entirely from a single camera angle, with its studio apartment setting seen through a mirror. The film presents a series of sexual encounters and emotional confrontations between Joe (Rip Torm), a psychiatrist, and several women, including Joann (Sally Kirland), Monica (Viveca Lindors), Sue (Darlene Cotton), Karen (Phoebe Dorin), Julie (Julie Garfield) and Elaine (Lois Markle). As writer-director Milton Moses Ginsberg once said about his experimental drama: "The avenue to oblivion is quite accessible really. Merely make a movie that's murder on an audience." But not to worry, because Ginsberg's tongue is firmly in his cheek and "Coming Apart" is certainly provocative enough to keep your attention. No way is this in the same league with some of the mind-numbing experimental work that we had to endure in art theaters before the advent of home video and the sacred fast forward button. The DVD version of "Coming Apart" is letterboxed and offers three excellent supplemental pieces: interviews with Ginsberg, Torn and Kirkland about the film's re-release; Ginsberg's 1999 dramatic video "The City Below the Line'; and the director's wonderful essay, "How to Fall into Oblivion and Take Your Movie with You." The extras would certainly bump this entire package up to 4.5 stars, but we round down this time because this is really is a film to watch a couple of times before moving on. Still, definitely worth a first look.
Rating:
Summary: A bold, experimental film rescued from "oblivion"
Review: "Coming Apart" is shot almost entirely from a single camera angle, with its studio apartment setting seen through a mirror. The film presents a series of sexual encounters and emotional confrontations between Joe (Rip Torm), a psychiatrist, and several women, including Joann (Sally Kirland), Monica (Viveca Lindors), Sue (Darlene Cotton), Karen (Phoebe Dorin), Julie (Julie Garfield) and Elaine (Lois Markle). As writer-director Milton Moses Ginsberg once said about his experimental drama: "The avenue to oblivion is quite accessible really. Merely make a movie that's murder on an audience." But not to worry, because Ginsberg's tongue is firmly in his cheek and "Coming Apart" is certainly provocative enough to keep your attention. No way is this in the same league with some of the mind-numbing experimental work that we had to endure in art theaters before the advent of home video and the sacred fast forward button. The DVD version of "Coming Apart" is letterboxed and offers three excellent supplemental pieces: interviews with Ginsberg, Torn and Kirkland about the film's re-release; Ginsberg's 1999 dramatic video "The City Below the Line'; and the director's wonderful essay, "How to Fall into Oblivion and Take Your Movie with You." The extras would certainly bump this entire package up to 4.5 stars, but we round down this time because this is really is a film to watch a couple of times before moving on. Still, definitely worth a first look.
Rating:
Summary: A bold, experimental film rescued from "oblivion"
Review: "Coming Apart" is shot almost entirely from a single camera angle, with its studio apartment setting seen through a mirror. The film presents a series of sexual encounters and emotional confrontations between Joe (Rip Torm), a psychiatrist, and several women, including Joann (Sally Kirland), Monica (Viveca Lindors), Sue (Darlene Cotton), Karen (Phoebe Dorin), Julie (Julie Garfield) and Elaine (Lois Markle). As writer-director Milton Moses Ginsberg once said about his experimental drama: "The avenue to oblivion is quite accessible really. Merely make a movie that's murder on an audience." But not to worry, because Ginsberg's tongue is firmly in his cheek and "Coming Apart" is certainly provocative enough to keep your attention. No way is this in the same league with some of the mind-numbing experimental work that we had to endure in art theaters before the advent of home video and the sacred fast forward button. The DVD version of "Coming Apart" is letterboxed and offers three excellent supplemental pieces: interviews with Ginsberg, Torn and Kirkland about the film's re-release; Ginsberg's 1999 dramatic video "The City Below the Line'; and the director's wonderful essay, "How to Fall into Oblivion and Take Your Movie with You." The extras would certainly bump this entire package up to 4.5 stars, but we round down this time because this is really is a film to watch a couple of times before moving on. Still, definitely worth a first look.
Rating: 
Summary: Genius!
Review: A newly rediscovered gem of an indie film. Brilliant performances and direction. Groundbreaking.
Rating:
Summary: Genius!
Review: A newly rediscovered gem of an indie film. Brilliant performances and direction. Groundbreaking.
Rating:
Summary: Wowsers!
Review: Easily one of the best independent films ever made. Way ahead of its time. Not for the faint of heart. Anyone interested in psychology should see this film.
Rating:
Summary: Wowsers!
Review: Easily one of the best independent films ever made. Way ahead of its time. Not for the faint of heart. Anyone interested in psychology should see this film.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a look
Review: They don't make movies like this anymore. Released in 1969, "Coming Apart" died fast at the box office (you can get the sad details from the director's "essay" included on the DVD) and was virtually unseen by anyone for the next 30 years. Its belated release on video should change that, however. The plot: A psychiatrist (Rip Torn) sets up a hidden camera in his apartment, which covertly records his liaisons with the unsuspecting women who end up in his lair. (Note: this movie is NOT for the kids.) Filmed (in black & white) entirely on a single set, with very little camera movement, it strongly resembles those old Warhol shorts, as well as the '60s underground flick "David Holzman's Diary," which employs roughly the same gimmick. Stars Torn and Kirkland really tear through the scenery--sometimes literally. The deliberately static style gives the proceedings a cozy intimacy and a convincingly "natural" look... but you'll probably wish, as I did, that it weren't quite so slow moving. It's a fairly interesting experiment, though, and a welcome change of pace from the manufactured junk of contemporary Hollywood cinema.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a look
Review: They don't make movies like this anymore. Released in 1969, "Coming Apart" died fast at the box office (you can get the sad details from the director's "essay" included on the DVD) and was virtually unseen by anyone for the next 30 years. Its belated release on video should change that, however. The plot: A psychiatrist (Rip Torn) sets up a hidden camera in his apartment, which covertly records his liaisons with the unsuspecting women who end up in his lair. (Note: this movie is NOT for the kids.) Filmed (in black & white) entirely on a single set, with very little camera movement, it strongly resembles those old Warhol shorts, as well as the '60s underground flick "David Holzman's Diary," which employs roughly the same gimmick. Stars Torn and Kirkland really tear through the scenery--sometimes literally. The deliberately static style gives the proceedings a cozy intimacy and a convincingly "natural" look... but you'll probably wish, as I did, that it weren't quite so slow moving. It's a fairly interesting experiment, though, and a welcome change of pace from the manufactured junk of contemporary Hollywood cinema.
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