Forum of Independents 2001 / Bartleby / USA 2000
Bartleby is a modern, updated version of Herman Melville’s 1856 classic, "Bartleby the Scrivener". The Boss of a small office decides to hire a new employee. The ad for a deadly dull and low-paying position attracts only one candidate: Bartleby. At first, Bartleby is exceptionally efficient. Gradually, however, he starts refusing simple tasks from the Boss with his favourite retort "I would prefer not to". Eventually he stops working altogether, so the Boss has to fire him. The trouble is, Bartleby refuses to leave the office. . . . This absurd, Kafkaesque, highly stylised black comedy is a first-class satire on bureaucracy, alienated labour and divisions in modern society; it is also a surrealist poem about lost humanity and compassion.
83 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Jonathan Parker
/ Screenplay Jonathan Parker, Catherine Di Napoli
/ Dir. of Photography Wah Ho Chan
/ Music Jonathan Parker, Seth Asarnow
/ Editor Rick LeCompte
/ Producer Jonathan Parker, Catherine Di Napoli
/ Production Parker Film Company
/ Cast David Paymer, Crispin Glover, Glenne Headly, Joe Piscopo, Seymour Cassel, Dick Martin, Maury Chaykin
Jonathan Parker, director, writer and composer, studied at Stanford University before studying film at NYU and composition at the Manhattan School of Music. During the 1980s he toured as a pianist with alternative music groups from San Francisco, recorded albums for CBS Records, and made music videos. His award-winning 1994 short film Hugo and Hilda Get Engaged was screened at film festivals around the world. Bartleby is his first feature film.
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
