Keep The Lights On

placeholder

Manhattan in 1998. A semi-clad man lies on a bed dialling different phone numbers until he finds a suitable date for sex. When Erik first meets his date Paul the encounter unleashes a passion that at first appears to have no future. Nonetheless, two years later, the two men are sharing an apartment and their lives. Erik is a documentary filmmaker and Paul is an attorney who works regular hours. But the closeted, emotionally unstable Paul is prone to overdoing things. In between conversations, sex and drugs the pair struggles to create a life together but time and again their compulsions and addictions cause the relationship to run off the rails. Nonetheless, neither of them wants to give up and both are prepared to fight for their happiness together. From the word go director Ira Sachs approaches his depiction of this couple with an intimacy that is both honest and unflinching. The growing instability of their life together provides the viewer with an unsparing portrait of the nature of relationships in our times. In addition, the film allows us to rediscover two exceptional albeit forgotten actors: photographer and filmmaker Avery Willard and singer-composer Arthur Russell, whose stirring, sensual, score provides Erik’s musical leitmotiv.

details

  • Runtime

    101 min
  • Country

    United States
  • Year of Presentation

    2012
  • Year of Production

    2012
  • Director

    Ira Sachs
  • Cast

    Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson, Souleymane Sy Savane, Paprika Steen
  • Production Company

    Keep the Lights On, Inc.
  • Berlinale Section

    Panorama
  • Berlinale Category

    Feature Film
  • Teddy Award Winner

    Best Feature Film

Biography Ira Sachs

Born in Memphis, USA in 1965, Sachs’ work has already screened in the Berlinale Panorama section in 2005 with FORTY SHADES OF BLUE, in 2010 with LAST ADDRESS and in 2012 with KEEP THE LIGHTS ON which won the Teddy Award. In 2013 he was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Filmography Ira Sachs

1992 Vaudeville | 1994 Lady | 1997 The Delta | 2000 10/26/00 | 2002 Untitled | 2002 Get it while you can | 2005 Forty Shades of Blue | 2007 Married Life | 2019 Frankie