"Peter Hujar's Day" Gives the Past a New Life

"What's the point of talking pictures if the people in them don't talk? The characters in Ira Sachs's films always express themselves volubly, even when there's plenty of action (rewatch the ardently kinetic " Passages"), but in his surprising and boldly imaginative new drama, "Peter Hujar's Day," talk becomes the action. It's a bio-pic, of sorts, about the photographer of the title (played by Ben Whishaw), who, on December 19, 1974, was interviewed by the writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall), at her apartment, on the Upper East Side."

"The day that Hujar described to Rosenkrantz, December 18th, was a busy one. It started with a phone call from an editor, another from Susan Sontag, and the editor's visit to Hujar's loft, on East Twelfth Street and Second Avenue. There was a trip to Allen Ginsberg's apartment, a few blocks away, to photograph him for the Times; a bunch of telephone calls, a visit from the writer Glenn O'Brien, a dinner with Vince Aletti (a contributor to this magazine) and a walk to get takeout for it; finally, a long evening working in his darkroom to develop and print photos, including the ones he'd just taken of Ginsberg."

"In the interview, Hujar doesn't merely itemize this whirl of activity but gives it dramatic urgency, psychological weight, and social scope by delving into the personal connections and backstories-the fundamentals of career, friendship, pleasure, and money-that underlie the day's events. The result is an exalted transfiguration of"

The film stages a verbatim 1974 interview between photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz as its primary material. Ben Whishaw portrays Hujar and Rebecca Hall portrays Rosenkrantz in a confined, talk-driven drama. The recounted day, December 18, 1974, includes calls from an editor and Susan Sontag, an editor's visit, photographing Allen Ginsberg for the Times, visits from friends and a late night in the darkroom developing prints. The dialogue supplies dramatic urgency, psychological detail, and social context, turning mundane activities into a concentrated portrait of career, friendship, pleasure, and money. The transcript was found at the Morgan Library and published in 2021.

Read at The New Yorker