The Annihilation of Fish (2024 restoration by UCLA Film & Television Archive)

Charles Burnett: The Annihilation of Fish (US 1999) with Lynn Redgrave (Flower ‘Poinsettia’ Cummings) and James Earl Jones (Obadiah ‘Fish’ Johnson).

US 1999. Prod.: Paul Heller, William Lawrence Fabrizio, John Remark, Eric Mitchell, Kris Dodge per Intrepid Productions, Inc. 

    Director: Charles Burnett. Scen.: Anthony C. Winkler F.: John L. Demps Jr., Rick Robinson. M.: Nancy Richardson. Scgf.: Nina Ruscio. Mus.: Laura Karpman. Int.: Lynn Redgrave (Flower ‘Poinsettia’ Cummings), James Earl Jones (Obadiah ‘Fish’ Johnson), Margot Kidder (signora Muldroone), David Kagen (assistente sociale). 

    DCP. 108’. Col.

    Not released in Finland.

    From Kino Lorber

    Courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Milestone Films at Roundabout Entertainment, FotoKem, Audio Mechanics e Simon Daniel Sound laboratories, from the original 35 mm and soundtrack negatives. Funding provided by Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Special thanks to Charles Burnett, John Demps, Dennis Doros, Amy Heller.

    Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna 2024: Recovered and Restored

    E-subtitles in Italian by Mirta Boschietti.

    Introduced by Jillian Borders and Dennis Doros (UCLA), hosted by Gian Luca Farinelli.

    Viewed at Cinema Lumière - Sala Scorsese, 25 June 2024

Jillian Borders (Bologna Catalogue 2024): " In a quiet Los Angeles boarding house, an unlikely romance develops between eccentrics Obadiah “Fish” Johnson (James Earl Jones) and Flower “Poinsettia” Cummings (Lynn Redgrave). Fish is newly released from a mental institution despite his regular physical wrestling matches with his demon, Hank. Poinsettia, prone to belting out arias from Madame Butterfly, contends with her own invisible partner, the ghost of the composer Giacomo Puccini, to whom she is engaged to be married. All this unfolds under the loving eye of the matron of the house, Mrs Muldroone, played almost unrecognizably by Margot Kidder. "

" The seemingly outlandish setup by screenwriter/novelist Anthony C. Winkler may lead viewers to expect a slapstick comedy, but instead the film handles the issues of aging, mental illness and finding a life’s purpose with a gentle touch. The leads impress in the character-driven story, with an emotional and athletic performance from Jones as the widower Fish, and a bold but nuanced turn by Redgrave as the over-the-top Poinsettia. "

" Revered director Charles Burnett has had a prestigious career since his time in the Master of Fine Arts program at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Two of his acclaimed films have been placed on the National Film Registry: the “LA Rebellion” masterpiece Killer of Sheep (1978) – which was just ranked the 43rd Greatest Film of All Time in “Sight and Sound” – and the devilish family drama To Sleep with Anger (1990). Previously unreleased and unavailable on any home video format, The Annihilation of Fish is ripe for discovery as a worthy volume in Burnett’s impressive oeuvre. It is due to the persistence of Dennis Doros of Milestone Films, who pursued the rights for 19 years, that audiences will finally be able to experience this charming and poignant film. " Jillian Borders (Bologna Catalogue 2024)

AA: Charles Burnett's unknown milestone (pun intended), The Annihilation of Fish is one of the most tender and open-minded movies about people in spectra of mental conditions. 

It was brave of the actors to live the parts such as these, James Earl Jones as "Fish" Obadiah Johnson, Lynn Redgrave as "Poinsettia" Flower Cummings and most of all Margot Kidder as Ms. Muldroone. There is no drama or melodrama emphasis. The tale is gripping without embellishment and reveals difference in a singular way, without stereotyping.

All three main characters are living with ghosts, Mr. Fish with a personal demon: Hank the Demon whom he is literally wrestling, Poinsettia with Giacomo Puccini, and Ms. Muldroone in the memory of Mr. Muldroone. 

Music is important, ranging from calypso, mariachi and tango to Irving Burgie and inevitably highlighting Puccini, the centenary of whose death we are observing this year. Poinsettia's one-sided love affair with Puccini includes sacrilegious interpretations of "Un bel di" from Madama Butterfly, even competing disastrously with a professional live performer.

The Annihilation of Fish has even been called a romantic comedy, and while it is hardly a genre movie, the label is not wrong either. It is one of a kind, a great therapeutic story, and love is the greatest therapy. It is about characters living in illusions, with illusionary companions, but the love between Mr. Fish and Ms. Poinsettia is no illusion.

The colour palette emerges in vivid and vibrant hues in the digital resurrection. A refined restoration of a film that has been forgotten because it was ahead of its time. Today it can be welcomed as an embrace of diversity, and above all a celebration of the universal human bond.