Archive of films Queen of Diamonds / Queen of Diamonds

USA
1991, 77 min

Section: Tribute to The Film Foundation
Year: 2021

Frequently dubbed as the “American Jeanne Dielman”, Menkes’ long-forgotten radical sophomore feature is now widely recognized as an unparalleled masterpiece of the 1990s. Comprised mostly of striking motionless shots enveloped in a plotless, fragmented narrative, Queen of Diamonds was unlike anything produced by American indie cinema at the time.


Synopsis

Frequently dubbed as the “American Jeanne Dielman”, Menkes’ long-forgotten radical sophomore feature is now widely recognized as an unparalleled masterpiece of the 1990s. Here we have an austere, piercing sketch of an estranged blackjack dealer struggling to find meaning in a cold, mechanical Las Vegas. Comprised mostly of striking motionless shots enveloped in a plotless, fragmented narrative, Queen of Diamonds was unlike anything produced by American indie cinema at the time: an avant-garde picture with little dialogue that completely strips Sin City of its glamour, and a post-apocalyptic vision of dehumanizing capitalism – the American dream gone awry. Moreover, ultimately it’s a fierce feminist statement on the power of retreat and on the power of letting go.

Joseph Fahim

Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

About the director

Nina Menkes

Nina Menkes (1963, California). Filmography: A Soft Warrior (1981, short), The Great Sadness of Zohara (1983, short doc.), Magdalena Viraga (1986), Queen of Diamonds (1991), The Bloody Child (1996), Massacre (Massaker, 2005, doc.), Phantom Love (2007), Dissolution (Hitparkut, 2010), Brainwashed (2021, doc.)

Contacts

Arbelos
739 N. Occidental Blvd., Apt #3, CA 90066, Los Angeles
United States of America
Tel: +1 562 728 7501
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.arbelosfilms.com

About the film

Color, DCP

Section: Tribute to The Film Foundation
   
Director: Nina Menkes
Screenplay: Nina Menkes
Dir. of Photography: Nina Menkes
Editor: Nina Menkes, Tinka Menkes
Producer: Nina Menkes
Cast: Emmellda Beech, Tinka Menkes
Sales: Arbelos
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